Health Benefits Restored for 140 Windstream Retirees, CWA Keeps up Fight

CWA has won a round in the fight to safeguard retiree health care at Windstream. Windstream is restoring health benefits to about 140 retirees who had worked at the company's former GTE properties in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The retirees, represented by CWA Local 6171, are among the 3,000 Windstream retirees affected by the company's plan to terminate retiree health care in July.

Using a Windstream Strategic Industry Fund campaign, CWA is pushing to maintain retiree health at the company.  Through legal research and discovery, CWA determined that an Asset Purchase Agreement between GTE properties in the three states, and Valor, one of the companies that merged to form Windstream, protects health care benefits for retirees who worked for GTE in those three states.  

"CWA will be requesting similar documents through the discovery process to try to restore health care to more Windstream retirees," said CWA Telecom Vice President Jimmy Gurganus. In an outrageous move, Windstream is suing dozens of retirees who responded to a survey that the company mailed to them about health care. Workers who answered the question as to whether Windstream had the right to change or terminate retiree benefits with "no," have been sued.

CWA is representing the retirees in this attack.