The United Auto Workers is celebrating the ruling, and a spokeswoman for Morris Plains, N.J.-based Honeywell International released a statement saying the company intends to appeal the ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
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“That means that instead of those benefits being terminated, as the company had planned to do at the end of February, the court issued a permanent injunction against the company doing so,” the union said in a statement.
“Plaintiffs have proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Honeywell agreed to provide lifetime healthcare benefits to its retirees at the Greenville, Ohio, plant,” Rice wrote. “Honeywell’s plan to terminate those benefits as of Feb. 28, 2017, therefore breaches the terms of the relevant collective bargaining agreements.”
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Rice wrote that the workers retired with the understanding that they would be covered.
“It is inconceivable that nearly half the union employees at the Greenville plant would agree to voluntarily retire based solely on a promise that they would continue to receive health care benefits until May 22, 2014, when the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) expired,” he wrote.
“This is a hard-fought victory for our UAW Local 2413 Honeywell retirees and their families,” UAW regional Director Ken Lortz said in a statement from the UAW.
The original complaint was filed last July.
The facility at 851 Jackson St. in Greenville had 180 workers in 2011 when Fram was acquired by Rank Group Ltd. from Honeywell International Inc.
Honeywell operated the plant from about 1960 until it sold the plant in 2011. Today, it is a Fram Filtration plant with about 450 employees.
Among the attorneys representing Honeywell International were Dayton lawyers Charles Faruki and Donald Burton. Messages seeking comment were left for them.
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