Kraft Heinz pushes retirees to a private health exchange to cut costs

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Doug Leikness, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union in Madison, Wis., where Kraft Heinz has an Oscar Mayer plant, said the change will hurt workers and reduce costs for the company.

Saving money

"They're going to be saving a ton of money on this, by getting rid of their retiree insurance and providing a small supplement so retirees can buy their own," he said. "Our members will take a huge hit on prescriptions."

Kraft Heinz is also trying to shift some retirees away from pension plans under a voluntary program. Mullen said former Kraft employees who have a "future estimated benefit value" of under $2,500 a month at age 65, and have not started receiving the money, can "receive it as an immediate lump-sum payment or begin receiving annuity payments right away."

"This program supports the company's ongoing efforts to manage our future benefits obligations while giving plan participants additional choice and flexibility in how they invest and manage their retirement funds," Mullen said in a statement.

Shares of Kraft Heinz have been little changed since the merger closed in July. The stock rose 1 percent to $72.89 as of 9:59 a.m. on Thursday in New York.