Providence Newspaper Guild - Bargaining Bulletin

Contract 2000

Guild Bargaining Bulletin #6

Company Declares Impasse,
Plans to Impose Health Plans

The company declared impasse on medical insurance plans Thursday (Dec. 9) and said it would impose three new health plans and a new dental plan.

Your negotiating team called the company's actions illegal. The Guild's Executive Committee will review the situation at an emergency meeting set for Monday, Dec. 13.

The company edict eliminates the Blue Cross plan and increases office visit and prescription co-pays in the United HealthCare HMO. The company will drop Delta Dental and switch coverage to Metropolitan.

The company's plan eliminates the current cap on premium costs and will charge employees a 15 percent premium co-pay. However, company negotiators claim they are still willing to negotiate on the amount of the co-pay.

Guild members will also be able to select a Cigna plan and a second United HealthCare plan.

The Guild asked the company if any of the new health plans were equivalent to the Blue Cross plan. The company said "No". The current contract allows the company to substitute another medical plan for Blue Cross if it is "equivalent." The Guild also asked if the company even sought bids for plans equivalent to Blue Cross. The answer again was "No".

As the Guild negotiating committee arrived for the 10 a.m. session, workers were busy outside the negotiating room preparing the benefit packages that the company would impose.

"The company has been dealing with us in bad faith," Guild spokesman Tim Schick told the company. "It is clear the company was intending to implement despite what the Guild decided today."

The Guild asked the company if it would be willing to package the changes in the medical plans with improvements to the 401k and pension plans. The company said "No."

"You are asking employees to increase their costs and increase their risks with nothing in exchange," Schick said. "Six years ago we spent over 16 months in negotiations with the issue being a cap on medical costs. We are not going to give it away for nothing."

In other matters, the company gave the Guild a new proposal, which increases the wage hike to 6 percent over a three-year contract. The company added that there will be no base pay increase resulting from gainsharing.

The next negotiating sessions are set for Dec. 17 and 22.

The Guild's proposal is available on-line at the PNG web site:

Guild proposals.

Company proposals.

Tentative Agreements

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