Striking Cargill employees seek new health insurance options

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Striking Cargill workers are seeking new health insurance after the company announced their coverage would end starting Friday.

Friday also marked one month since workers went on strike. Cargill employees of Teamsters Local 238 went on strike on October 1, demanding competitive wages and respect from the company. Friday is the first of November and it will be one month since the strike began.

TV9 spoke with some of the workers on the picket line Tuesday. Some say they can cope without health insurance, but not everyone is so lucky.

Chris Gerlits is a single father with two children at home.

“One of my children, he is 20 years old, but he has special needs. He is autistic and nonverbal. He’s healthy. And I have a 16-year-old boy who will be wrestling, and hopefully he won’t break anything,” Getlitz said.

Starting Friday, Gerlits and his children will no longer have access to health insurance benefits through Cargill. The same goes for his striking colleagues and their families.

“I work with a woman whose husband is having problems and it’s bothering her,” Goellitz said.

Goetlits said he knew there was a possibility of losing his health insurance when the strike began.

“We kind of knew that if it took this long, they would try to do it, and here we are. They do it,” Goellitz said.

Local 238 Teamsters has been on strike at Cargill for about a month. Workers on the picket line believe the company is putting pressure on them to give up their demands.

“Trying to get us back,” said Brad Eveland, another striking worker. “They weren’t really willing to negotiate with us. Our union has sat down at the negotiating table several times and has not gone away.”

Eveland will also lose his health insurance benefits on November 1st.

“I’m lucky to say that I’m healthy and I’m fine. I’ll do without it if it comes to it. I know there are other health insurance options, but many of the people I work with have families and children. They have health problems and this will hit them much harder,” Eveland said.

Cargill told TV9 workers that striking workers will be eligible to receive benefits through COBRA starting Friday. Cargill sent a statement after the announcement was made. The statement says:

“AAlthough we have not reached an agreement with the union committee, we remain open and ready to engage in further negotiations. We believe Cargill offered a fair and competitive package. In the meantime, eligible employees continued to receive their employee health insurance benefits until October 31, 2024. If they continue to strike after this date, they will be eligible to receive benefits through COBRA. Cargill continues to safely deliver high-quality products to our customers.”

Goerlitz is looking for other options.

“One of our union brothers did some research. He has a friend in Des Moines who printed something out to let us know that COBRA is not the only option. It’s an option, but it’s expensive,” Gerlits said.

Eveland said it was difficult to say how long the strike would last with this added pressure, but he said he would stick it out.

On Tuesday morning, TV9 reached out to Cargill again to see if it had any news regarding the negotiations, Cargill said in a statement:

“Although we have not reached an agreement with the union committee, we remain open and ready to participate in further negotiations. We believe Cargill offered a fair and competitive package. Cargill continues to safely deliver high-quality products to our customers.”

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