You may have heard about H.R. 1322, "Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Act of 2007" from non-union retiree groups and wonder if CWA and the Retired Members' Council support it. We do not. Here's why:
While the bill attempts to address the important issue of retiree health care, H.R. 1322 would trigger a series of adverse consequences not only for retirees but also for current workers.
The bill would lock in retiree health benefits and prohibit changing or eliminating them - which sounds good on the surface � but does nothing to alleviate costs. The cost of health care, whether for retirees or active workers, is the real issue. To lock in retiree health benefits would necessarily mean that any cost increase would be shouldered by active workers. This cost shifting would lead to disunity between retirees and active workers at a time when we need to stick together and work to find a solution to the true health care problem.
A more effective approach to the issue would be to mandate policies that would provide employers ways to save costs without reducing benefits, the very things CWA does in bargaining. And, of course, the best solution would be to separate health care from employment � Medicare is a good example of this.
These potential solutions would not be possible if H.R. 1322 were to be enacted.
Although the bill has an alluring title, it is fatally flawed and is not supported by CWA and the RMC.
CWA Contracts and Retirees
Retirees Matter
http://cwa-union.org/news/CWANewsDisplay.asp?id=1520
Never before in our history have retirees and active members needed each other more than they do now. If benefits for current retirees are reduced or eliminated, it will diminish the security of active members who are, after all, future retirees. Without the support of the union, pensions could remain frozen forever and medical costs could exceed pensions. Retirees are committed to keeping the union strong and effective. In return for our support, our union has and will continue to support us. Our union needs us and we need our union.
Lucent
http://www.cwa-union.org/news/CWANewsDisplay.asp?ID=1523
During intense bargaining sessions, CWA negotiators fought hard to safeguard health care for workers and retirees and jobs for the future. Demonstrations at Lucent locations nationwide and the strong support of retirees were a big factor in gaining an agreement that addressed members' key concerns.
"Health care costs in this country can no longer be resolved through collective bargaining," Maly added. "It's become a band-aid approach. There must be a national solution to the health care crisis because we simply cannot continue to shift these escalating costs to workers. What we have done in this agreement will help ensure the survival of health care coverage for our members and retirees,"
"What we have done in this agreement will help ensure the survival of health care coverage for our members and retirees," he said. Lucent has about 120,000 union-represented retirees and dependents and only 3,400 active union workers.
For retirees, the settlement calls for some increases in medical co-payments and deductibles, and requires them to share the cost of premiums beginning in 2005. Pre-age 65 single retirees will contribute 3 percent of their monthly pension rate for health care, or about $28.50 on average. Family coverage for pre-age 65 retirees will be 5 percent of the monthly pension rate, about $47.50 on average. Post-age 65 retirees will pay 2 percent of their monthly pension for single coverage and 4 percent of their monthly pension for family coverage. Contributions for both groups will increase by one half of one percent per year over the contract term. Workers who retired prior to March 1, 1990 will continue to have employer paid premiums.
These costs are dramatically lower than Lucent's initial proposals, which sought to shift as much as $700 a month in family premium costs to retirees.
SBC
http://www.cwa-union.org/news/CWANewsDisplay.asp?ID=1425
The settlement achieves CWA's top goal of preserving fully paid health care premiums for active employees and retirees. Health care co-payments for medical services and prescription drugs will increase, but at a much lower level than SBC at first had demanded.
To offset higher health costs, CWA negotiated the cash bonuses totaling $1,000 for years 2006-08 for active workers, and retirees, who are now under a different health plan, will receive a total of $2,500 in two payments on Dec. 31, 2004 and on Dec. 31, 2005. Members who retire during this contract will keep their health care until the end of this contract.
SBC had set up a bargaining showdown when it wrote to retirees last December stating that they would start paying premium costs, later making the same demand of active workers when the talks formally opened in February.
The premium sharing demand was a major reason that there was no settlement when the contracts were set to expire on April 1 and 3.
The issue of retiree health benefits - a major roadblock to moving forward in negotiations - was tentatively resolved just before the SBC annual meeting in late April, where more than 1,000 CWAers had gathered to rally and let SBC know that they were taking a stand for jobs and health care. The morning of the meeting, on hearing of the victory, CWAers held their own shareholder meeting at a nearby site.
Bell South
http://www.cwa-union.org/news/CWANewsDisplay.asp?ID=1463
The settlement preserves fully paid health care premiums for active workers and retirees. It includes some increases in health care co-payments for medical services and prescription drugs, but overall, at a much lower level than BellSouth was initially seeking from workers and retirees.
Since June 14, when negotiations got underway, BellSouth had pressed for extensive health care cost shifting to workers and retirees. CWA made it clear to the company that it would work with BellSouth, as it has for decades with major employers, on measures to ensure quality health care and contain costs, but it would not accept the company's demand to shift premium costs to active and retired workers.
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