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As the news of Kodak’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week continues to send ripples through the Greater Rochester community, many retirees are uncertain about the future of their health care and retirement benefits. In 2009, Bob Volpe was appointed president of EKRA, an advocacy organization of Kodak retirees.
Did you have a sense, while working at Kodak, that the company would ever declare bankruptcy?
Not necessarily that it would declare bankruptcy, but it was clear that it would have to reorganize and refocus. I saw that it was certainly changing when the company started making massive layoffs in 1986 in order to cuts costs. At that time, top management announced that the first major cut would be 10,000 employees worldwide when the company employed 100,000. They also cut the budget by 5 percent. Those kinds of major layoffs have trickled along since then.
What do you think should have happened — now or in the past?
Frankly, I think enough people are already looking back. We’ve got to look forward to where we’re going to be next.
What do you think will happen with the company now?
It’s clearly going to have to reposition itself. It will be smaller and more narrowly focused as far as its products. It will be a company that sells prodcuts primarily to the business community and not to consumers, and as a result of being smaller, it will have a significant negative impact on retirees since there will no longer be $240 million in Kodak retiree health care.
What is EKRA planning to do for retirees?
We'll try to present some options in bankruptcy court, where we will represent our members. When U.S. trustee establishes a committee of unsecured creditors, the court can't negotiate with over 3,000 retirees, so they'll look for a representative. We'll also be looking to help identify alternatives for retirees to get health care.
Were you surprised by the Chapter 11 announcement?
No. Frankly, we (EKRA) put together some plans early last year about various possible scenarios involving change in Kodak, each with its own action plan, and had a response plan for what action we’d take if Kodak declared bankruptcy.
How should Kodak retirees respond to the news?
We’ve all been dependent on kodak for so long, and this is a whole new world for us, so it can be scary. What i th it's important - health care, their pensions are safe. I strongly urge every retiree to join EKRA. Don't panic. It’s important for them to know that their health care and pensions are safe
As the news of Kodak’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week continues to send ripples through the Greater Rochester community, many retirees are uncertain about the future of their health care and retirement benefits. In 2009, Bob Volpe was appointed president of EKRA, an advocacy organization of Kodak retirees.
Did you have a sense, while working at Kodak, that the company would ever declare bankruptcy?
Not necessarily that it would declare bankruptcy, but it was clear that it would have to reorganize and refocus. I saw that it was certainly changing when the company started making massive layoffs in 1986 in order to cuts costs. At that time, top management announced that the first major cut would be 10,000 employees worldwide when the company employed 100,000. They also cut the budget by 5 percent. Those kinds of major layoffs have trickled along since then.
What do you think should have happened — now or in the past?
Frankly, I think enough people are already looking back. We’ve got to look forward to where we’re going to be next.
What do you think will happen with the company now?
It’s clearly going to have to reposition itself. It will be smaller and more narrowly focused as far as its products. It will be a company that sells prodcuts primarily to the business community and not to consumers, and as a result of being smaller, it will have a significant negative impact on retirees since there will no longer be $240 million in Kodak retiree health care.
What is EKRA planning to do for retirees?
We'll try to present some options in bankruptcy court, where we will represent our members. When U.S. trustee establishes a committee of unsecured creditors, the court can't negotiate with over 3,000 retirees, so they'll look for a representative. We'll also be looking to help identify alternatives for retirees to get health care.
Were you surprised by the Chapter 11 announcement?
No. Frankly, we (EKRA) put together some plans early last year about various possible scenarios involving change in Kodak, each with its own action plan, and had a response plan for what action we’d take if Kodak declared bankruptcy.
How should Kodak retirees respond to the news?
We’ve all been dependent on kodak for so long, and this is a whole new world for us, so it can be scary. What i th it's important - health care, their pensions are safe. I strongly urge every retiree to join EKRA. Don't panic. It’s important for them to know that their health care and pensions are safe
