Proposed Cuts at Gas Company Under Attack : Labor: Critics say plan to reduce benefits for disabled could encourage other firms to follow suit.

Union officials and disability rights advocates are protesting a benefits cutback proposal by Southern California Gas Co. that they say could encourage other employers to pull back on assistance for disabled workers.

The gas company has traditionally provided one of the area’s most generous disability insurance programs. Currently, workers with 15 years of service who are permanently disabled and unable to return to their old jobs are eligible for company disability benefits until reaching retirement.

But as part of the utility’s “last, best and final” benefits offer under a contract being negotiated with union employees, the company is pushing to slash disability assistance and bring its benefits in line with those of other employers.

Alan Toy, a disability rights activist and social services commissioner for the city of Santa Monica, said the company’s actions “could could set a precedent for rolling back disability rights.” Toy said the move reflects an emerging attitude among employers that the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, which protects the disabled against discrimination, “is no longer sacrosanct.”

The gas company’s plan would phase out disability benefits for workers deemed capable of getting new jobs--at the gas company or elsewhere--that pay at least 50% of the wages provided in their old positions. For example, it would apply to disabled repair workers who could now perform clerical jobs for a new employer.

“The intent is to get people who are able to come back to work to start working again,” said Jeri Love, a company spokeswoman.

Union leaders say they agree with that goal but that they want Southern California Gas to guarantee jobs for the disabled workers. Otherwise, they fear that many of the affected employees will lose their benefits without finding work.

“Even if someone is capable of working . . . it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get a job in today’s job market, especially if they are old or disabled,” said Paul B. Worthman, chief negotiator for Local 132 of the Utility Workers Union, which represents about 4,000 of the gas company’s 7,500 employees.

The company proposal has frightened disabled employees such as Gene Higgs, 52, of Lancaster. After suffering head injuries in a motorcycle accident 15 years ago, Higgs said, he started suffering memory lapses and related problems that forced him to quit working as an appliance service man. Since then, he has received a check for $498 every two weeks, along with medical insurance.

“I’ve tried to get a job before, but no one will hire me because of my disability,” he said. With the benefits cutoff, he said, “I’m very concerned I won’t be able to eat or pay my rent.”

Worthman said the cutback would affect, in varying degrees, many of a group of 171 disabled employees who have been deemed medically able to return to work. They now receive an average of $17,000 a year in benefits from Southern California Gas.

However, Love said that seriously disabled workers with 15 years of service who cannot return to work would continue to receive benefits until reaching retirement. She said the utility is under pressure to bring its costs in line with those of other employers.

“The issue for us is making every effort to provide customers with the best possible service at the lowest possible cost, which means that we cut avoidable expenses,” she said.

Contract negotiations between the union and company are scheduled to resume today. Although part of the labor contract has expired, the crucial component covering wages and working conditions extends to March 31.