There’s a picture on the
Embarq web page citing a change in
retiree benefits. The posed or stock
photo shows two couples, black and
white, smiling over brunch or coffee on
a front porch.
But
Embarq’s real retirees aren’t
smiling. The change in benefits that
goes into effect this year eliminates
all company-sponsored healthcare
insurance for employees and dependents
who have reached the Medicare-eligible
age of 65, and caps life insurance
payouts at $10,000 — about the cost of
the average funeral.
Those changes brought several dozen
ex-employees out to the Capital
Boulevard
Embarq offices Monday, armed with
protest signs and invective against
their former company.
“My expiration date with the company is
January 17, 2010. They’ll cover me until
I’m 65 and that’s it — they’re throwing
me out that day,” Christeen Worley of
Steadman said. Worley, who’s had heart
surgery, worked for Sprint (now
Embarq) for more than 37 years.
Anne Wilkinson of Roanoke Rapids worked
from 1971 to 1994 in insulation repair
and as an administrative assistant.
“I just had breast cancer in June,” she
said. “I came back from my surgery and I
didn’t have any benefits.”
Who benefits?
About 14,500 retirees are affected;
some, the protesters say, are terminally
ill. Retirees’ average yearly payout for
health insurance is expected to now cost
$2,000 plus, depending on age and
existing health issues, according to the
Communications Workers of America.
Alton Hanford of Henderson is president
of Local 3682, the union that bargains
for employee rights. Retiree benefits
aren’t part of negotiations, but Hanford
said he thinks the action may still be
illicit.
“We are bringing charges with the Equal
Opportunity Commission of age
discrimination for cutting retirees’
benefits” he said.
Former cable-splicer Robert Perry of
Fayetteville said the changes reflect a
larger, immoral culture of greed that
seems to have taken over the country.
“All the money seems to me is going to
the top,” the 44-year employee said.
“The man at the top — he’s just going to
have some more money for himself. I’m
disgusted.”
George Speight, a Rocky Mount retiree
who once served as bargaining
representative for the telephone
workers’ union (Local 3682), has a
specific man at the top in mind.
“Thirty million dollars a year is what
they say they’ll save,” he said. “They
just paid their executive officer $25
million in benefits.”
Speight was referring to former COO
Michael Fuller’s $24.1 million
termination package. Fuller had worked
for Sprint-Embarq
for 32 years. In his last year, he was
paid a $12 million salary, Speight said.
Speight recalled how the employees and
retirees were promised no major changes
when
Embarq spun off from Sprint early
last year. “They wait two years and
wham! they take everything except our
(retirement) check,” he said.
“If they get this without an argument,
they’ll take that next time,” Tarboro’s
William Stallings added.
Remaining competitive
“When we started out we were all young,
right out of high school, and we trusted
our company,” Fayetteville’s Catherine
Sessoms said, adding that trust was
misplaced.
“There’s some that are having terrible
trouble with their nerves right now,
wondering what to do,” Fayetteville’s
Pam Wrench said. Wrench, who worked for
the company for 38 years, retired
without benefits, but said she was
picketing in support of the other
employees.
“We have implemented the changes to try
to remain competitive both in the
industry and the areas we serve,”
company spokesman Thomas Matthews Jr.
said Monday.
Retirees were always aware their
benefits were subject to change, he
added.
All over-65 retirees will be able to
purchase insurance through Aetna, even
those with pre-existing conditions,
Mathews said.
So they’ll be able to get insurance, but
at a price. According to retired service
technician Kenneth White of Roanoke
Rapids, a $100,000 life insurance plan
will cost 200 percent or more what he’d
have to pay had he started paying into
it eight years ago.
For 33 years White was the veritable
face of the company. He was the guy
fixing the line to customers’ houses or
businesses, until a work-related injury
forced him into retirement.
Now his face reflects a mask of
uncertainty: Will he be able to afford
what’s needed to take care of his wife
and family? How much of his savings is
it going to cost to start paying into an
insurance policy now?
Like other long-term employees present
at the protest, White feels as if he’s
been cheated.
“I was a loyal employee,” he said. “If
it’s not (against) a law to do this, it
ought to be a law.”
