Local 243's bargaining committee reached agreement on March 20 for a new three-year agreement with Sargent Manufacturing, and the members ratified it later the same day. The settlement came six days after the expiration date of the old contract, at the end of a long, tough fight over the company's effort to eliminate the existing healthcare plan, and replace it with two inferior plans. Through the determination of Local 243's members and leadership, they retained their health plan. The local also won wage increases and other improvements.
Bargaining began on February 7, and from the start the company made clear that its top goal was cutting its healthcare costs. The existing plan – popularly known as "the 100 percent plan", provides 100 percent coverage, with low co-pays and no deductible. The company's proposal would offer each worker a choice of two plans, an 80/20 plan called "America's Premier" and a 75/25 plan called "America's Standard", with annual deductibles of $350/$700 and $800/$2400.
Co-pays for doctor visits ($15 under the existing plan) would jump to $20 ($30 for specialists) in the company's proposed Premier plan, and $30/$50 in the Standard plan. The existing plan has no out-of-pocket (OOP) maximums; in the Premier plan, the annual OOP max would be $4,000 in-network and $12,000 out-of-network. In the Standard plan it would be $12,000 in-network and $24,000 out-of-network. Employee contributions for medical and dental would have jumped to $60.79 a week for the Premier, slightly less for Standard. (The most anyone paid per week for the existing plan was $35.) On top of all that, the company wanted to impose a weekly "spouse surcharge" of $63.41 in cases where the employer of a Sargent worker's spouse offers health insurance but the family chooses instead to be covered by Sargent's insurance.
The company had proposals on other topics that the union found unacceptable. Sargent wanted to change the language on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to force workers to take paid accident and sickness (A&S) leave simultaneously with unpaid FMLA leave. It wanted to change the recall language to make an employee's return to the job dependent on "ability" determinations rather than simply seniority. Another company proposal would have required a worker receiving a layoff notice to train the worker who replaces him or her.
The company wanted to change the way vacation pay is calculated in a way that would drastically cut the vacation pay of many workers. Management also wanted to issue one check on one date for all of an employee's vacation pay for the year, which the union felt would make it financially harder for workers to actually take vacations. The company also proposed eliminating overtime pay except after an employee has worked 40 hours in a week.
The UE bargaining committee's response to all this was clear and unequivocal: "It ain't going to happen." The members had made clear, months before negotiations began, that maintaining their current health insurance was their biggest goal. Union members had become aware last October that their insurance would be under attack, when the company announced drastic cuts in the health insurance of salaried employees.
Union leaders kept the membership informed throughout the bargaining process, and the members let the company know that its demands were unacceptable. The union collected contact information from members, preparing for the possibility that militant action might be needed.
GOOD SETTLEMENT
In the final settlement, the union defeated the company's heathcare proposals and retained the existing 100 percent plan, with two minor adjustments. The co-pay for emergency room visits increases from $25 to $50, and the co-pay for non-preferred drugs through mail order goes up from $30 to $60. Local 243 negotiators also backed the company off its concessionary demands on vacation, FMLA, layoff, recall and overtime.
Union members receive a “lump sum” payment of $1,250 in the first year, a 50 cent hourly wage increase in the second year, and a 45 cent increase in the third year. The pension multiplier was increased $2 in the first year. Weekly A&S benefits were increased by $5 a year to $465 in the third year. Wage rate protection in the event of job elimination was extended to 48 months (previously 24 months).
The company wanted to eliminate Columbus Day as a paid holiday, arguing that its suppliers and customers don't shut down on that day. The union agreed to exchange that holiday for a paid personal day for each employee.
The union also corrected what President Ray Pompano called a "50-year injustice" whereby the contract said that paid bereavement leave for the death of a family member other than spouse, parent or child would be "up to" three days. This left the company a loophole to deny three days off in many instances. The "up to" language was eliminated making it explicit that bereavement leave is three days.
Members were pleased with the work of their bargaining committee and with the outcome. Sharon Riendeau, a 32-year employee, said, “We could not afford the insurance plans the company put on the table. I am so very thankful that our insurance remained intact!” Five-year employee David Samuels said, “This keeps us going another three years.” And Sharon Russo, who has 28 years at Sargent, added, “In these times, we are so thankful and proud of our committee and the great job they did!”
President Ray Pompano, who has led the local for the past 29 years, was also pleased. “By listening to our membership, the committee's top priority in negotiations was to keep our wonderful health insurance intact, while keeping out-of-pocket costs down. I believe we accomplished this. With a vote of 254 in favor, 18 opposed, our members showed they were overwhelmingly satisfied with our efforts.”
UE members at Sargent manufacture high-end locks and exit devices. The company is nearly 200 years old, and UE Local 242 was organized in 1939. In 1996 Sargent was purchased by Assa Abloy, a Swedish multinational corporation that is now the largest lock manufacturer in the world.
The union bargaining committee consisted of President Ray Pompano, Vice President Chris Fiorentino, Chief Steward Wayne Morrison, Mitch Cannon, Tom Russo, Butch Santore, Steve Saunders, Tony Stewart, Anna Tondalo, and Andy Vissicchio. They were assisted by International Representatives Gene Elk and John Woodruff and Field Organizer Colleen Ezzo.