Retirees picket EMBARQ because the company plans to discontinue paying for their health insurance

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/news.apx.-content-articles-TRI-2007-08-31-0006.html

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Glenn Ward said he spends $3,000 a month buying the prescription drugs needed to treat his wife’s Parkinson’s disease.

He and other EMBARQ retirees learned last month they will lose their company-paid health insurance on Jan. 1.

"It’s a crying shame," Ward said Thursday morning. "You think you have health insurance and then you don’t."

Ward joined about 30 other EMBARQ retirees in a Thursday morning informational picket outside the company’s Bristol office on 6th Street.

The group – mostly former Communications Workers of America Local 8371 members – wanted the rally to draw more attention to retirees’ plight and bring pressure upon EMBARQ to leave the insurance coverage intact.

"We’d hoped to have more , but you know retirees have a lot of doctor’s appointments," said Johnny Thompson, a former Local 8371 president who has been coordinating the retiree’s efforts.

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