News

Verizon Bargaining 2011: Report # 4

29 Jun, 2011

CWA Districts 1, 2 & 13 and the IBEW Locals 827 and 1944 Regional Bargaining Teams met with the Company today. We discussed the health benefit proposal Verizon passed last week. Here is a sample of some of the retrogressive items in the proposal:

• The Company has proposed to terminate the major health benefit plans that CWA has negotiated over decades.

• The company is demanding premium contributions for both the medical plan and the dental plan.

• In the first year, the medical plan premiums for a single employee would range from $390 a year to $1,420 a year, depending on the plan they choose.

• For a family, the medical plan premium would range from $1,380 a year to $3,810 a year, depending on the plan they choose.

• Premiums would increase in each year after that.

• The company wants to impose premiums for retirees as well. For pre-Medicare retirees, a single retiree could pay somewhere between $290 and $1,320 and a pre-Medicare retiree with a family could pay between $1,280 and $3,710 depending on the plan they choose.

• Medicare retirees could pay between $145 and $960 a year depending on the plan they enroll in if they are single, and between $640 and $2,155 a year depending on the plan they choose.

• Premiums for the dental plan would be up to $185 per year for a single employee and up to $435 per year for a family, depending on the plan they choose.

• Retirees would also have to pay for dental coverage, the same rates as active employees.

• The most drastic changes are proposed in the medical plan. The company proposed to eliminate the PPOs and network plans that have been in place for decades and replace them with high deductible health plans.

• Before the plan would begin to pay any benefits, a single employee would have to pay $1,000 and a family would have to pay $3,000.

• In other words, the company is proposing to shift thousands of dollars in health costs to our members, without offering any improvements in health care quality or any support for our members to navigate the health care system. They are saying “You’re On Your Own” to our members and their families who need quality, affordable health care.

Now more than ever we need to mobilize!