Letter to Lucent Members & Retirees from Al Mumm, President Local 7290

Al Mumm, President of CWA Local 7290 sent the following letter to his members and retirees regarding the current Lucent Retiree Healthcare issue.

08-31-06

MEMBERS AND RETIREES

In our ongoing fight to keep Lucent from transferring $100 million worth of retiree health care costs to the retirees, we must step up the pace. The 420 transfer issue of the Pension Reform bill that we have been referring to in recent correspondence, needs technical language changes before September 30 (the date Lucent “proposes” to extend to from the original Sept. 1—the unions have proposed extending the date to Jan.1,2007) or Lucent and CWA/IBEW will have to go back into bargaining on health care. If this happens, it is for sure Lucent will take a hard line, refuse to use the $101 million in savings they have gotten from Medco ( which they tried to “hide” from the unions)  for retiree health care, deliberately reach an impasse with the unions, and then be able to implement their new, high cost health care. This, if implemented, is estimated to cost  Lucent retirees $300 to $600 per month for health care. It is of the utmost urgency that not only you send those letters out that I sent you last week (retirees), but that you call your senators and congressman (the House of Representatives is particularly urgent) offices immediately to ask for their help in getting the technical changes needed to make this legislation comply with the Lucent/CWA/IBEW contract language, which calls for yearly transfers of funds to the retiree health care fund, instead of the once in the life of the contract as the legislation now states. Please make these calls immediately!! Just say you are a Lucent retiree or employee, and you want the congressman’s  or senators support in getting technical changes made to the Pension Reform Act, before Sept. 30. Those changes are on the sheet enclosed, and can be read over the phone or faxed or mailed to the legislator. If as a retiree, you value your health care and want to keep costs down and if as an active employee of Lucent you don’t want your health care costs to go up, you MUST participate now and help get this technical language change made ASAP!!! I cannot over emphasize the importance of this!!!

AL MUMM

President

CWA Local 7290

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