We sent our proposal for the USW plans on Thursday, LDRM had stated on Friday that it is not possible to adopt the USW plans (this year). Saturday they sent us a counterproposal, in it we get the same coverage and prices as the USW plans we designed but we have to stay with FCE.

We will be including assurances in the Memorandum of Agreement to make FCE step up it’s game (one such proposal is to have a designated LDRM contact to report FCE related issues to; ex.-unable to get questions answered/ get a rude customer service rep/ etc).

Please recognize that we moved them from 5-6% rate increases to keep the coverage the same, to drastically improved coverage for that same amount (employee only). The lower tier plans will cover more at a reduced cost (most coverage levels). They came this far because of your actions, they rearranged their coverage with their vendor because of your actions.

This is a win, it might not be the exact win we want, but the alternative at this point could be LDRM’s initial offering of our coverage getting worse for 5-6% more in premiums. * While this is not the outcome we all want, it is likely the best offer that LDRM is going to give us this late in the game.

Next year LDRM will not have the excuse of their contract with FCE, we will be able to shop for all of the benefits (and add some if we want), and we can take 100% of our business away from FCE.

We will have details for ratification meetings (at least one for each shift) within a day or two.

*LDRM has the right to push forward with whatever coverage they see fit if we vote this down as they must make sure we have benefit coverage on March 1.