CHICAGO — As the strike by two dozen WTTW technicians enters its third week, negotiations are at a stalemate over a new labor contract, and the pressure is mounting on both sides.
On Monday, the Chicago public TV station notified the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1220, which represents the striking workers, that it will terminate group health insurance coverage for the technicians as of April 1. The workers will have the option to continue coverage — at their own expense — through the federal COBRA program.
“One of the guys on the picket line actively has cancer, and a couple of guys have had cancer in the past,” said John Rizzo, business manager for Downers Grove-based IBEW Local 1220. “Removing that coverage and putting the cost burden back on these people with no paychecks to help support it, it’s quite frankly an evil move on their part.”
