KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A federal judge is about to make a decision that will affect more than 14,000 ALCOA retirees.
At a hearing Wednesday morning, Judge Thomas Phillips heard arguments in a suit filed over retirees' health benefits.
More than 100 retirees came to court as lawyers for both sides argued they should win now without a trial.
Retirees want ALCOA to continue to offer the same benefits it did before January 2007.
Their lawsuit claims the company increased premiums and raised deductibles for those who retired between 1993 and june 2006. The company says it had no choice, and the plan even got the union's blessing.
Chester Gentry retired after 32 Years at ALCOA. He says, "I put in a lot of hard work for them and made them many a dollar, now they're taking it away from us."
After surviving two cancer surgeries and blood clots in both lungs, Gentry is not one bit happy about the fact he's paying part of a health insurance premium he says the company promised to pay in full for him and his wife.
Jean Gentry is covered under her husband's insurance policy. She says, "Financially, I don't know how we're going to make it. I don't even have insurance on my house right now. "
While the retirees' lawsuit claims Alcoa broke a promise, the company argues the union agreed to the change on three seperate occasions, in negotiations beginning 15 years ago. Alcoa says that's when rising healthcare costs led to a negotiated cap on how much the company will pay for premiums. When costs exceed that cap, addtional costs come out of employees' pension checks.
ALCOA spokesperson Christy Newman says, "We feel like it's offering good coverage and it was agreed upon by the company and the union."
One former employee tells us he was part of those negotiations, and claims he was as surprised as anyone when he heard retirees would have to pay more.
Melvin Bridges, President ALCOA Trade Retirees Associaton, says, “It's like playing a ballgame, you went to the locker room and then you hear that somebody sas the score's been changed. It's not the same as when we left the field."
That hard reality led retirees and their lawyer to court.
The retirees' attorney, Greg Coleman says, "You've got folks that are having a hard time making ends meet, having to make choices over whether to buy medicine or food. Those are tough choices, Rob, for anybody."
Judge Phillips did not rule immediately. He will decide over the next few weeks whether to give one side victory now or send the case to trial.
While he made it clear he does not know how he'll rule, he did ask lawyers to tell him when they could be ready for trial.
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