Intermet cancels life insurance for retirees

DECATUR, Jul 25, 2009 (Herald & Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- INMTQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A group of Decatur retirees is finding out that America's corporate woes can reach out and sting them beyond the grave.

Former employees of Intermet Corp., previously Wagner Castings, have received letters telling them their life insurance is dead. The $10,000 benefit, which many workers had been relying on to pay their funeral expenses, was cut in a cost-saving deal agreed to as part of Intermet's latest bankruptcy proceedings.

In a settlement reached with the United Steelworkers union, a hardship fund of $75,000 was created to compensate the retirees. Split among the company's hundreds of former employees, this payment saw those who lost their life insurance get a check for $48.70, along with letters telling them their benefits had vanished.

"We thank each of our retirees for your many years of service with Intermet Corp. and for the sacrifices which you have been asked to incur," the letter added.

"That's a bunch of (expletive)," said retiree Susan Black, 69, who worked at the Decatur Intermet plant for 30 years.

"This is a type of fraud: All those years they took the money for benefits, including life insurance, which we could have had in our checks. Now, it's a promise unkept. And they've taken our dignity at death away from us; we don't know how we are going to pay or our families are going to pay for funeral and other expenses now."

A meeting to discuss the situation has been called for 1 p.m. Sunday in the AIW Hall at 2882 N. Dinneen St. Roberta Wallace, who worked at the plant and is the wife of a retiree, said it is hoped that a representative from the United Steelworkers will be there to speak and take questions.

Wallace, 53, said she wanted to alert people because many retirees had not received their letters or compensation checks, and it appears some letters went to wrong addresses. She said the loss of the life insurance was a heavy blow. "Retirees need to know that there is going to come a time when their families need this money, and it's not going to be there," she added.

A spokesman for Texas-based Intermet, Gordon Cole, read a statement that said eligible retirees would be able to "transition" to another life insurance company. But the Decatur workers say they are not aware of any alternatives, and Cole said he did not have enough information to be able to comment on individual cases.

"Retirees with questions are urged to use the contact information in the letters they received," he added. That number is (706) 596-2222.

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