April 11, 2007
Bargaining Update: 04.11.07
Slow Progress
Some mildly positive news out of the bargaining meeting Wednesday April 11th: The company has slightly raised its wage offer and slightly trimmed some of the huge increases in health costs it wants us to pay. It even accepted one of our healthcare proposals.
It is moving slowly in the right direction, but still is nowhere near where we need to be.
Which brings us to the main point: The pressure we are putting on them is showing some results, and above all, we need to keep up the pressure.
Reporter decisions to decline voluntary appearances on CNBC, videos, radio, etc., on top of everyone's insistence on being paid premium pay for work on days off, your commitment to file for overtime— every time— and our expected presence at the Dow Jones annual meeting next Wednesday (11 a.m. at the American Express building at World Financial Center) all are having an impact.
At the Wednesday bargaining session, the company offered a raise of 2.5% for 2007 (still not retroactive), and 2.75% in each of the next two years. That still won't keep us ahead of inflation and health premiums.
As for premiums, they cut their demands, but still want to nearly triple our premiums from where they are today. They slightly narrowed their demand to jack up our drug costs — but only for 2008. After that, they still want the same draconian drug-cost increases.
And they still threaten to end some of our medical benefits entirely — they won't say exactly which ones or when. They want the right to substitute so-called "health savings accounts," employee-funded plans that mainly protect against catastrophic illness. We again rejected that proposal.
One surprise: The company accepted our proposal that health insurance cover annual physicals and immunizations for everyone, including family members. We very much hope that this will keep us all healthier in the years to come.
That benefits them as much as it does us. As we have said for years, the less we need medical care, the more everyone saves. This is one of several such health initiatives we've proposed, aimed at saving money by keeping people healthier. We hope to persuade them to pursue this kind of approach more aggressively. They said they would examine some of our proposals, but not all.
So keep up the pressure — we need to see them move a lot farther than they have. And as always, keep your comments and suggestions coming.
Steve Yount
President
Jim Browning
Bargaining Committee Chair
IAPE CWA 1096