Honeywell plans to cut healthcare for 4,700 retirees [View all]

[douglas9]

SOUTH BEND — More than 4,700 Bendix, Allied Signal and Honeywell Aerospace retirees nationwide may lose their healthcare and prescription drug coverage after the company sent them a letter giving notice of its intent to terminate their coverage on July 31.

It is a continued effort by the company to cut the benefits, an effort that was stymied by a temporary injunction filed by the United Auto Workers in May 2017. Now, another court decision was cited by the company as providing the legal basis for slashing the benefits.

Woody Kepler is one of the retirees who would be affected. Starting at Bendix in 1967 when he was 20, Kepler spent his entire career at Bendix and its successor company Allied Signal, which was eventually purchased by Honeywell.

Since retiring in 1997, he’s fought off cancer twice, including lung cancer most recently in 2016. When doctors did biopsies on Kepler’s left lung, they found that exposure to asbestos and chemicals at work may have contributed to the cancer. Since finding out his coverage will be terminated, Kepler has taken steps to join a class action lawsuit against Honeywell.

https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/honeywell-plans-to-cut-healthcare-for-retirees/article_c2073496-8eb0-5b78-b31b-4ada25d18201.html