Employees agree to deal with higher health costs BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer FREEHOLD — Living in a free society gives citizens many rights, including the right to speak up when they believe that they are being treated unfairly. Unfortunately, the freedom of speech does not guarantee that the outcome of a citizen’s actions will always end up the way he planned. So it was with the 180 employees of Nestle USA in the borough who recently decided to test their company’s resolve at the bargaining table. Employees at the Nestle factory on Jerseyville Avenue initially rejected the new contract they were presented with last month. The offer included an increase in the cost of employee health care benefits — a hike employees said a proposed 65-cent an hour raise would not cover in the long run. The employees, all members of the Teamsters Union Local 11, called a strike — marking the first time in 30 years that Nestle workers walked off the job. Union members took turns walking a picket line in front of the plant day and night. The firm did not change its position. Employees were being enrolled in a new health care program, Nescare, one that is now national, and that was that. The union members were left with a choice — adjust their finances to fit the health care increase into their budgets, or stay out on strike and lose their weekly paychecks and health care benefits altogether. Maintenance utility worker Eric Tiedemann of Freehold has been a Nestle employee for 27 years. He said although the striking employees did not get what they were after — keeping the health care benefits they enjoyed under their previous contract — the new contract did bring another HMO plan to the table, one that will be more expensive, but has a lower deductible. “We also have a guarantee for a 5 percent bonus for the next five years,” he said. This benefit, which had previously been offered to employees, was never guaranteed until now, according to Tiedemann. He said the bonus is based on production, reportable loss-time accidents and absenteeism. “We didn’t lose, but we didn’t gain either. The only thing we lost was three weeks pay,” Tiedemann said, adding that the company can still change the employees’ health care benefits at any time without negotiations, a fact that disturbs him. The plant opened in 1948, according to company spokesperson Yasmeen Muqtasid. The Freehold plant produces and distributes nationwide two primary products, Taster’s Choice instant coffee and Nestea instant ice tea. Muqtasid said the plant also exports some if its production overseas. “The new five-year contract was ratified by the union on Aug. 23,” Muqtasid said. “We are glad that the situation has been successfully resolved and that everyone is back to work.” According to union President Peter McGourty, the union members “never wanted to go to on strike in the first place.” McGourty said, however, that a strike was the only way the employees believed they could resolve the situation. “They [Nestle] wouldn’t move, because of setting up the health care benefits on a national level,” McGourty explained. “By making our health care benefits national, the company took away certain rights that members had in the past to negotiate company proposals. This move has taken away the opportunity to negotiate all future benefits.” Benefits come into play once a year and company officials negotiate rates, according to McGourty. “Whoever comes up with the best bid will get it,” McGourty said. “In the past, members had the opportunity to negotiate these rates. We will not be able to do this any longer.” McGourty said employees at the Nestle plant understand that the cost of benefits continues to rise. Published reports indicated that plant employees are paid between $17 and $26 per hour. “No matter if you’re a mom and pop store or a huge company like Nestle, owners are asking for more participation from employees and are looking to provide less benefits for them,” he said. McGourty said health care costs have escalated at least 20 percent every year for the last three years. This includes prescription medication plans as well. Employees used to pay 10 percent of the cost of their health care benefits. Now they will be paying 15 percent, according to the union president. McGourty said that amount could increase in the future now that employees no longer have the opportunity to negotiate where the cost goes. “I think this is the hardest problem for members to overcome,” he said, adding that employees believe they have essentially lost their voice.