Cheesy Ploy by Kraft

Cheesy Ploy by Kraft

December 30, 2002

Outraged that corporate giant Kraft Foods of North America is yanking a popular health maintenance organization from its list of offered benefit plans, Teamsters Local 791 filed a request December 23 in federal court for an injunction to delay the January 1 change until it can be considered by an arbitrator.

Shifting to another medical plan “will mean a lot of out-of-pocket expenses for our members,” said John Emrich, a business agent at the Rochester, New York local.

Although Kraft claimed that a 25 percent increase in premiums by Preferred Care HMO prompted the action, Local 791 determined that the increase locally was only a third of that figure. “This is what bothers a lot of us,” Emrich said of the 475 production workers, who make Cool Whip and Lunchables products.

Arbitration is scheduled for later in January. Local 791 will seek to have Teamsters Health and Welfare added to the benefits menu when the current contract expires in December 2003.