April 22, 2013: More than 100,000 Teamsters will be moved out of their current health plan if UPS management gets its way in contract negotiations. Now some locals are demanding a separate vote on the issue.
     UPS wants to move more UPS Teamsters out of company health plans. The company and Ken Hall were all but set on moving these Teamsters into the Central States Health & Welfare Fund. But members and some local unions are saying, “Not so fast.”
     A debate has broken out on the National Negotiating Committee with some officers calling for alternatives to the Central States option and a separate vote by affected members only.
     Officers from every local in the West held a conference call last week and spoke out against any transfer to Central States Health & Welfare Fund. Teamsters Local 177 which represents some 6,000 UPSers in New Jersey also joined the call.
     “My local’s members deserve a separate vote on this issue,” an officer from a large affected local told TDU. “Members whose health benefits are going to stay the same should not be deciding whether our members get moved into a different plan with different coverage.”
     The International Union organizes the ratification vote and has the power to give affected members a separate vote.
     UPSers’ co-pays, drug costs, deductibles, and retiree healthcare costs would all go up under the top coverage that is currently offered by the Central States Health Fund, the C-6 plan.
     The proposal to move UPS Teamsters out of company health plans would affect members in some of the largest UPS locals in the country, including locals in California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, St. Louis, Ohio, Iowa, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
     Part-timers nationwide are covered by company plans that provide coverage that’s superior to the C-6 plan.
     Negotiations continue in Washington, D.C. this week. It’s too soon to know if the proposed contract will move Teamsters in company health plans in C-6 in the Central States, an improved Central States plan or alternative plans.
     Stand Up Against Healthcare Cuts
     Before contract negotiations began, Ken Hall vowed, “We’re not going to be talking about concessions, we’re going to be talking about improvements.”
     Will this apply to Teamsters who will be moved out of their current health plan?
     These members deserve a separate vote by affected members only and complete information on changes to their benefits and retiree coverage under any proposed new health plan.
     That’s where we stand. How about you? Click here to send us a message and team up with other UPS Teamsters who are working together to oppose health benefit cuts and a separate vote by Teamsters who would be moved into a different health plan.