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Tentative Agreement Summary for contract 2009-2011, June 10, 2009 

On Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 9:00 p.m., our AFSCME clerical negotiating committee and the University reached a tentative agreement in settlement of our negotiations for the contract year 2009-2011.

A summary of the terms of settlement follows. Information about voting on the tentative agreement will be distributed to members as the details are finalized. Only members may vote, but you are urged to sign a membership card to join the Union and participate in this process.

Article 19, Wages

• All Clerical Bargaining Unit employees whose pay rate falls within the pay ranges for the Unit will receive a 2% general wage adjustment on July 1, 2010. The pay ranges will all move up 2%.
• Progression steps will be temporarily suspended from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011. All language regarding step increases remains printed (as shaded paragraphs) in the contract. The University dropped its proposal to include an additional sentence that stated, “Step movement shall be discontinued until a new agreement is negotiated.”

Article 20, Insurance

• There are several changes to the section entitled “Basic Coverage”, but for most employees these will have a relatively minor impact.  These changes will become effective 1/1/2010.
• The Union and the University agreed that there will be no changes in the percentages to employees’ contributions to their Health Plans (90%/10% for the employee-only contribution; 85%/15% for family coverage)
• One of the most important pieces of information we received from the University is that in any situation in which the use of a higher-priced drug is a medical necessity, the Prior Approval process will apply.
• Specialty drug coverage (in which a drug is administered in a lab or a clinical setting, such as the infusion of a medication) will now be covered through the pharmacy plan rather than the medical plan. This is primarily an administrative change rather than a change that will affect how the actual drug is administered.
• Low-dose Lipitor, when not used for its secondary therapeutic value, will be moved to a non-formulary copay in order to encourage the use of low-dose generic equivalents.
• The pharmacy plan will provide only one brand of diabetic testing equipment and supplies at the generic copay. The University will arrange for informational presentations by the provider and manufacturer, and will make detailed information available regarding the use and capabilities of the meters and test strips. (The Prior Approval process will continue to apply to exceptions for these products as well.)
• Pharmacy copays will increase for the medications that are not listed as Generic Plus:
• Generic Plus drugs will remain at $8
• Brand formulary drugs will be raised from $20 to $25
• Non-formulary drugs will be raised from $35 to $50
• Emergency Room copays will be raised from $50 to $75, but the copay will continue to be waived if the patient is admitted to the hospital
• A new copay for MRI and CT scans will be instituted at $25, but there will still be no copays for lab/diagnostic testing.
• The office visit copay will be increased from $10 to $11 for the Base Plan and Health Partners.
• Obsolete language regarding a one-time 2008 open-enrollment for life insurance will be deleted

MOUs and other material appended to the contract

·         An MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) from the 2007-09 contract regarding an agreement to meet and confer on issues relating to our salary steps (compression of steps, length of pay ranges, etc.) will be modified to a letter, which will recognize what we have already accomplished and acknowledge that either party may wish to pursue the next logical steps in a more favorable economic climate.

• There will be a new MOU to address issues surrounding Respectful Workplace and anti-bullying language. Representatives from the Union and the University will meet and confer to discuss the issues and possibly arrive at some processes to address them. The speed of this negotiations process did not allow us an opportunity to fully discuss all the parties’ concerns.

“Housekeeping changes”

• All the appropriate date changes will be made, along with continuing all the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and the Fitness Incentive Letter.

The Unit 6 Clerical Union Negotiations Committee recommended acceptance of this Tentative Agreement. 

Phyllis Walker                                     Cherrene Horazuk

Peter Lunney                                       Sven Erik Olson

Laura Mirelez                                      Kelly Alghamdi Zimmerscheid

Andy Carhart                                      Julia Gladhill

Ginger Nohl                                        Laura Stolle Schmidt

Kem Tae Lynch