MADISON, Wis. — A pending dispute over whether opponents of themerger of the CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, headquartered inMadison, and the CUNA Mutual Life Insurance Company, headquarteredin Iowa, are going to be able to get a copy of the life insurancecompany's list of policyholders seems likely to head to court.

Ray Rehberg, one of the organizers of the anti-merger effort onthe part of the Office and Professional Employees Union said theunion's reading of Iowa law allows them to get a copy of the listwhile a CUNA Mutual executive has insisted that they do not.

“In no instance will we allow anyone to obtain or copy ourpolicyholder lists or any portion of them,” wrote Jim Buchheim,vice-president of communications for the company. “Under Iowa lawand CMLIC Bylaws, policyholders do not have a right to inspect orcopy the policyholder list.”

But Rehberg maintained that Iowa law does allow such copying andhe acknowledged that the two parties are in “uncharted territory”about the dispute.

“I think this is going to wind up going to the Iowa insurancecommissioner and when he makes a decision the unhappy party willhave no other place to go but to court,” Rehberg said.