Retirees of Eastman Kodak Co. have recently staged a series of protests in response to planned cuts to their health care benefits.
Approximately 70 retirees picketed outside the company’s corporate headquarters in Rochester, N.Y., in early October. A similar protest of 200 former Kodak workers was held in September.
In August, Kodak announced it would stop paying for retirees’ dental coverage or life insurance, phase out medical coverage for dependents and shift more premium costs to retirees. The cuts are scheduled to start in 2009 and will be phased in over a ten-year period.
“It seems to me we’re the ones tightening our belts,” said retired tool maker Edward Gartz. “We’re taking all the losses, and corporate management still is getting their bonuses.”
Kodak, Xerox Corp. and General Motors retirees are planning a march in Washington to condemn the growing trend of companies cutting retiree benefits.
