August 21, 2008  

(Seattle) – Teamster retirees marked National Senior Citizens Day by leafleting at Gap stores in Seattle and Portland to protest the retailer’s use of delivery company Oak Harbor Freight. Oak Harbor Freight, based in Seattle, has announced plans to eliminate the Teamster retirees’ health care coverage.

“If the Gap is really serious about embracing its responsibility to people and communities, it needs to make sure its vendors are not hurting seniors and retired workers,” said John Vallely, a retired Oak Harbor delivery driver.

The trucking company’s move to abandon retirees would force current and future retirees to pay up to $7,992 more each year to keep their health insurance.

“If the company’s plan goes through, I won’t be able to afford health insurance,” said James Ingraham, a retired driver. “It would be down to making my house payment or making my insurance payment. It’s just devastating.”

Retirees and union leaders in the Northwest plan to escalate their handbilling at Gap stores in the coming weeks as the busy back-to-school season kicks off. “If the Gap’s vendor gets its way, our retirees—the ones who serviced the Gap for so many years —will be orphaned with no health insurance,” said Al Hobart, International Vice President and Joint Council 28 President. “We cannot allow that to happen.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.