EAST CHICAGO, Ind. – The rising cost of health insurance and thequestion of who should pay the bill promises to get more attentionacross the nation in the coming months. The issue looms at theheart of a credit union labor dispute in Indiana. On Friday, August22, members of the United Steel Workers Local Number 2003-21 walkedoff the job, alleging that the $134 Inland Employees Federal CreditUnion had been involved in unfair labor practices, a charge thecredit union denies. The walkout's precipitating event, accordingto the union, was the disciplining of three union members, whoallegedly sent an e-mail to credit union leadership about pendingchanges to the credit union's health insurance policy. Currentlycredit union employees receive their health insurance coverage freeas an employment benefit. The credit union disputed the union'sversion of events, arguing that the e-mail in question may havebeen directed to the credit union's leadership but was broadcast tothe credit union's more than 60 employees. “Everyone we talked toabout this has agreed that their employer would have acted if theyhad done such a thing,” said John Wahadlo, credit union CEO. “Andof course if the e-mail had really only been sent to the creditunion's leadership, there would have been no disciplinary action,”he added. Wahadlo said he was not surprised the union had calledthe strike under an allegation of an unfair labor practice since,under labor rules, workers are allowed to return to their jobsafter such job actions. He also noted that two of the four laborpractices with which the union has charged the credit union beforethe National Labor Relations Board, the nation's primary laborrelations' regulator, have been withdrawn or dismissed. Despite thecurrent strike, Wahadlo expressed confidence in the negotiatingsystem. “We have always negotiated with the union bargaining unitand we will continue to bargain with the bargaining unit until wearrive at a fair contract,” he said. The union agreed that thecredit union did not appear to be looking to bust the union. “Thebottom line is that we haven't had a contract since January,” saidSue Beckman, leader of the United Steelworkers Union thatrepresents roughly 40 of the credit union's employees. “We can'ttell what they are trying to do. They have stood us up innegotiations along with the federal mediator,” she said. Beckmansaid relations between the credit union and the union had been goodoverall and Inland has deep roots as a credit union established forsteel workers. Those factors made her believe the credit union didnot have designs on breaking the union. The credit union has alsorefrained from hiring any law firms that have “union busting”reputations, she said. But even though both sides were expressing ameasure of good will, there are indications that the finalnegotiations that will bring workers back under a contract areliable to be painful. The credit union and the union local have met17 times since early February, according to Wahadlo, and thebiggest issue between the two, health care costs, still remain.Wahadlo added that the credit union considered itself caughtbetween a sharp rise in health care premiums on the one hand andits employees' familiarity of not having had to pay anything fortheir health care. The credit union presented data early in thebargaining sessions with the union that showed that five othercredit unions in the area, which also had workers who were part ofUnited Steel Workers locals, already had workers picking up part oftheir health care costs. “We are the only USWA credit union in thearea where employees still do not pay any of their health insurancecosts,” Wahadlo said. “That's just not sustainable.” According tothe credit union, its insurer, a branch of Blue Cross and BlueShield, has increased the credit union's insurance premiums by 31%over 2002 and the credit union pays more than $370,000 annually foremployees' health care insurances. “That's $4.45 per employee, perhour.” Wahadlo said. “We can't keep that up.” The truth is thatthis is not a management versus labor issue, Wahadlo explained.“This is an economic issue. This is taking place all over thecountry, with smaller firms facing rising health care costs and notbeing able to keep the same relationships with their workers.”Looking forward to the credit union's next bargaining sessionWahadlo said the institution would be sticking with its positionthat employees should pay at least 20% of their health insurancepremium, and incrementally more for family [email protected]