St. Paul Guild

MediaNews Group/Pioneer Press bargainers on Tuesday presented their proposal to change insurance benefits for union employees. Guild bargainers questioned management about the details of that proposal and identified what employees would lose under the company's plan.

The company's proposal would:

* eliminate HealthPartners as a choice for health insurance coverage. All employees would be offered the same plans, which could be changed without negotiation with the Guild. (Under the current contract, employees who choose HealthPartners accept higher monthly premiums, while the company's contribution to the premium is capped.)

* require that all employees pay 30 percent of the premium on the two UnitedHealthcare plans, regardless of coverage election (single, employee plus one, or family).

* allow the company to change coverage, co-pays, deductibles or plan design without having to bargain with the Guild, so long as it made the same changes for non-Guild represented employees.

* prevent part-time employees who work between 15 and 25 hours weekly from receiving medical, dental, vision and life insurance coverage.

* require all employees to pay a portion of the monthly dental insurance premium. Guild employees are currently covered at 100 percent. The company was unable to say what the percentage employees would be required to say.

* reduce pay for employees on leave for short- and long-term illnesses or disabilities.  Under the current contract, employees receive anywhere from eight to 77 weeks off at 100 percent salary -- depending on seniority -- with 60 percent coverage thereafter.   Under the company's proposal, employees only would receive one week at 100 percent salary, with 25 weeks at 70 percent salary, and 60 percent coverage thereafter. For instance, a six-week maternity leave that is now paid at 100 percent would be cut to one week of full pay and five weeks at 70 percent.

RETIREMENT

In exchange for freezing the pension, Labor Relations Director Marc Chrismer said the company was willing to discuss matching employees' 401(k) plans.

"It is not our intention to freeze the pension and not give you anything," he said.

Although the company did not provide a formal, written proposal, Chrismer said the company would match 50 cents for every $1 contributed by an employee, capped at 3 percent salary match.

That means an employee would need to contribute 6 percent of his or her salary to receive the full 3 percent match.

Editorial writer Jim Ragsdale asked Chrismer, "Isn't this just a better deal for people who make more money? If I don't have the 6 percent to contribute, I'm screwed."

Employees would be eligible for the company's match after six months of service and would be fully vested in the company's match after five years of employment.

The proposed vesting schedule is as follows:

0 to 2 years: 30 percent

3 years: 50 percent

4 years: 75 percent

5 years: 100 percent, fully vested

CONTRACT SECTIONS AGREED TO:

Also Tuesday, company and Guild representatives agreed to three contract provisions, with the most significant being the renewal of the evergreen clause. That clause preserves the next contract's terms after its expiration.

In preserving the evergreen clause, the Guild agreed to an extended bargaining notice period.

The Guild also agreed to renew the "just cause" standard for discipline and to keep an employee's probationary period to six months. The company had wanted to extend that period to nine months.

The Guild withdrew two proposals related to any future sale of the company.

HEALTH INSURANCE

In presenting the changes, Chrismer again reiterated the idea of "norming" benefits across the board for Guild and management employees.  "We're proposing that the union has the same insurance that I have, that Lynne (Swenson) has, and that Guy Gilmore has."

HealthPartners is the most popular plan among Guild employees, who choose it by a two-to-one margin, with close to 180 workers paying higher premiums to keep the superior coverage it provides.

Interim Human Resources Director Swenson said she expects HealthPartners premiums will continue to rise, with a 10 to 12 percent projected increase in 2008. Conversely, she expects UnitedHealthcare premiums to remain flat in 2008. When Guild Executive Officer Darren Carroll asked why that plan would have been immune from the medical inflation affecting other plans, Swenson said she did not know.

She did say she expects more employees to switch to UHC from HealthPartners as the rates rise.

"It's not so much that the company wants to eliminate HealthPartners, but, as its premiums go up, it will be harder for employees to afford it," she said.

She expressed concern that HealthPartners will drop the Pioneer Press if the number of covered employees drops beneath its threshold. But when reporter Alex Friedrich asked what that limit was, she pegged it at 50 or 60 – well below the current enrollment of 180.

Reporter Meggen Lindsay noted that more employees were on HealthPartners than UnitedHealthcare, and asked if the company would consider switching everyone to that plan and adding a lower-cost tier. Swenson essentially said no.

"We are comfortable with the rates and plans we have now with UHC," she said. "We're not exploring that."

Carroll told company representatives that the Guild was willing to work with them.

"We clearly share the goal of wanting a plan that helps retain and attract good employees," he said. "We will work with you to go out to providers to get a plan at roughly the same or lesser cost, with roughly the same or better benefits."

Both sides next meet on Sept. 19.

The Guild was represented by Darren Carroll, Marilyn Clements, Julie Forster, Lance Forys, Alex Friedrich, Meggen Lindsay, Dave Noble and Jim Ragsdale.

The company was represented by Barb Cartalucca, Marc Chrismer, Thom Fladung, Greg Mazanec and Lynne Swenson.

--Meggen Lindsay