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“After 34 years with LTV Steel, I was forced to retire because of a disability. Two years later, LTV filed bankruptcy. I lost a third of my pension, and my family lost their health care. Every day of my life, I sit at the kitchen table across from the woman who devoted 36 years of her life to my family, and I can't afford to pay for her health care. What's wrong with America and what will you do to change it?"
This was a question posed last night by Steve Skvara, a retired Steelworker who attended the Democratic presidential candidate debate at Soldier Field. Standing with the aid of his crutches, he asked his question as the crowd burst into a thunderous applause.
Steve, 60, and his wife, Sandy, 56, have been married 36 years and have four grown children. Magen has a degree in Psychology and works as a nanny. Bridget is a Special Education teacher at a High school in southern Indiana, Rachel is a hair stylist and Stephen works for Target in Phoenix, AZ.
Steve started as a mechanical helper at Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co., which later became Youngstown, then Lykes, then LTV. He worked in maintenance clerk/spare parts and the electrical department before retiring as an electrical repairman after 34 years of total service. He’s been retired for seven years and has been a member of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees, or SOAR, for that long.
He was a SOAR coordinator for two years, and was elected in 2004 as his chapter president and the District 7 SOAR executive board member.
After an auto accident in 1997 he went through numerous surgeries and rehab he attempted to return to work. Unfortunately he was not physically able to. And was forced him to take an early retirement and ended his hobbies of fly fishing and camping. His hobby now is community service.
Steve has always been involved in union work, his church and community. He served as a union rep/shop steward for over 10 years at Local 1011. He’s involved in the Knights of Columbus, served on the homeowners association in his county, and served as an elected township school board member. When LTV went into bankruptcy and the retirees were left without health care. He learned of SHIiP and the work they do with seniors and became a certified SHIiP (Senior Health Insurance information Program) representative, helping seniors with Medicare problems and to find Medigap insurance.
He has assisted our retirees at Bethlehem, National Steel and Slater Steel, when their plants went into bankruptcy. He volunteers once a week at the union hall with SHIiP.
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HEALTH CARE
