Teamsters Oak Harbor Freight Strike Defending Pensions & Health Care Is In 12th Week

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/10140

By Doug Cunningham

Six hundred Teamsters drivers are in the 12th week of their strike at Oak Harbor Freight in Portland, Oregon. It’s a defense of pension and retiree health benefits that the company wants to replace with benefits worth less. Marv Deegan is a Teamster retiree at Oak Harbor freight. He says this is another battle in the war on the middle class.

: “It's definitely an attack on the middle class. If this trend continues the wages will continue to come down and the benefits will continue to come down and it just continues to bring the middle class down to a point where we'll be lucky if we have any kind of benefits at all."

Deegan’s health care premium recently went from about $300 a month to more than $900. With Christmas coming in the midst of a financial crisis, Deegan says many strikers are struggling to survive.

: “Twelve weeks - that;s an extremely long strike. And most of 'em are struggling right now, really beginning to struggle. Some of 'em are probably losin' their homes. Of course Christmas is something that's out of the question. Most of 'em right now, too, have no health insurance."

Oak Harbor Freight ships merchandise to Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores. To support the strike go to oakharborteamsters.com