MADISON, Wis. — A pending dispute over whether opponents of the merger of the CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, headquartered in Madison, and the CUNA Mutual Life Insurance Company, headquartered in Iowa, are going to be able to get a copy of the life insurance company's list of policyholders seems likely to head to court.

Ray Rehberg, one of the organizers of the anti-merger effort on the part of the Office and Professional Employees Union said the union's reading of Iowa law allows them to get a copy of the list while a CUNA Mutual executive has insisted that they do not.

“In no instance will we allow anyone to obtain or copy our policyholder lists or any portion of them,” wrote Jim Buchheim, vice-president of communications for the company. “Under Iowa law and CMLIC Bylaws, policyholders do not have a right to inspect or copy the policyholder list.”

But Rehberg maintained that Iowa law does allow such copying and he acknowledged that the two parties are in “uncharted territory” about the dispute.

“I think this is going to wind up going to the Iowa insurance commissioner and when he makes a decision the unhappy party will have no other place to go but to court,” Rehberg said.