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FRO plans updates for Deere retirees

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By Jennifer DeWitt | Friday, May 09, 2008 | No comments posted

A group of Deere & Co. retirees embroiled in a dispute with their former employer over benefit changes has announced a series of meetings to update fellow retirees of their progress.

The Flex Retirees Organization, or FRO, will hold another round of meetings beginning next week in the Quad-Cities. Additional meeting will be held across Iowa as well as in Kansas City, Kan.

Bill Gabbard, FRO’s president, said the group will be updating retirees on their efforts to fight the health benefit changes that the Moline-based Deere rolled out last year. He said FRO’s leadership intends to focus the presentation on the status of the fund-raising efforts as well as formalizing membership into the group.

FRO was created by a group of Deere retirees in the wake of the company’s decision last fall to change the health benefits for about 5,000 retirees, mostly former salaried employees. While FRO has threatened to file a lawsuit over the situation and has retained a law firm specializing in employment law, no suit has yet been filed.

Gabbard predicted the meetings will be well attended, based on the attendance at earlier meetings. “The snowbirds are all back now,” he said.

This will be the first time a meeting has been held in Kansas City. Retirees in that area — many of whom would have worked at Deere’s offices in Lenexa, Kan., or at a former parts distribution center in Kansas City — had requested a meeting, he added.

“I know we have people signed up on our members list from that area, but we might pick up more if we have a meeting there,” he said, estimating that FRO has signed up about 2,200 of the 5,000 affected retirees.

The Quad-City meeting will be 9:30 a.m. May 16 at Christ the King Catholic Church, 3209 60th St., Moline. Gabbard warned that past meetings have backed up traffic on John Deere Expressway and those planning to attend also should be aware of the construction project on Moline’s Avenue of the Cities.

FRO meeting schedule

Monday: Ottumwa, Iowa; Knights of Columbus Hall, 10 a.m.

Tuesday: Dubuque, Iowa; 4-H building at the fairgrounds, 10 a.m.

Tuesday: Des Moines; West Des Moines Community Center, 11 a.m.

Wednesday: Waterloo, Iowa; Supervisor’s Club, 10 a.m.

May 16: Moline, Christ the King Catholic Church, 9:30 a.m.

May 29: Kansas City, Kan.; Brookridge Golf Club, 9 a.m.

Jennifer DeWitt can be contacted at (563) 383-2318 or jdewitt@qctimes.com.