The 2016 Agreement set the annual Cap on the Company’s Contributions towards Pre-2008 Pre- Medicare Retiree Health Care (“Company Caps”) as follows:

·       Retiree:  $15,447

·       Retiree + 1:  $30,893

·       Retiree + Family:  $38,639

The Agreement provides that when the cost of the pre-Medicare plan options exceeds the Company’s Caps the retiree shall be responsible to pay the excess in the form of premium contributions.

Currently Pre-2008 pre-Medicare retirees who retired on or after January 1, 2013 pay the following annual premiums:

·       Retiree:  $472

·       Retiree + 1 and Family:  $809

Beginning January 1, 2026 the cost of the pre-Medicare MEP HCP will be as follows:

·       Retiree:  $18,211

·       Retiree + 1:  $36,422

·       Retiree + Family:  $45,528

Resulting in the following cap excesses and annual premium contributions:

·       Retiree:  $2,764

·       Retiree + 1:  $5,529

·       Retiree + Family:  $6,889

The 2016 Agreement also allows the Union to bargain alternative medical options for the Pre-2008 Pre-Medicare retirees when the MEP HCP pierces the Company’s Caps.  The Union, through the Advisory Committee on Health Care (“ACHC”), successfully negotiated 3 alternative options for Pre-2008 pre-Medicare Retirees.

1.    Opt-out of Verizon coverage and enroll in an HRA.  The HRA amount will be equal to the Company’s Caps for the tier coverage you enroll in (Retiree - $15,447, Retiree + 1 - $30,639, Retiree + Family - $38,639).  The retiree will be able to use the HRA to purchase health insurance through an exchange identified by the company and/or eligible out-of-pocket expenses.

2.    Elect to enroll in the alternative MEP HCP plan.  This plan uses an alternative network that the MEP HCP plan and has a different plan design (attached is a comparison of the plans and a disruption report for the different network).

The cost of this alternative plan is significantly less expensive than the MEP HCP plan and results in retiree annual premium contributions as follows:

·       Retiree: $1,180

·       Retiree + 1:  $2,361

·       Retiree + Family:  $2,929

3.    Enroll in the alternative Surest Plan.  Surest is a United Health Care (“UHC”) product that is designed to steer participants to providers that have better outcomes based on the rates they charge.  The plan design has no deductible and a range of co-pays for certain services (attached in the comparison document).  The participant would access the Surest website or App to choose a provider based on the applicable co-pay and the provider’s “rating.”  This plan also has no deductible.  UHC has told us that they are willing to host virtual meetings during open enrollment to demonstrate how the product works.  The cost of this plan results in annual premium contributions as follows:

·       Retiree: $512

·       Retiree + 1: $1,025

·       Retiree + Family:  $1,259

Utilization of Funds and Changes to Programs

The Collective Bargaining Agreement between CWA/IBEW and Verizon requires the Company to fund the programs enacted by the Work and Family Committees at $1.4 million, per year, each August, including through 2025. During the Covid-19 pandemic the utilization of the programs understandably declined, resulting in a surplus of funds available to the Committees to allocate towards programs. The Committees took several actions to deal with the surplus. We expanded on the number of programs to allow for more Members to participate by adding a Health and Wellness benefit, a Drivers’ Education benefit, and a College Book Reimbursement. We also didn’t lose sight of the mission of the fund, which is to help our Members with work/life balance issues. With that in mind, the Committees increased the maximum allowed amounts for reimbursement under the Dependent Care and Summer Camp programs. All of these actions helped get the money where it belonged – to the participants in these programs. Due to the popularity of these programs, we no longer have a surplus of funds and must make some changes: • The Dependent Care Reimbursement Fund (DCRF) will revert back to a $150 maximum per family, per week beginning in June 2025. • Additionally, DCRF reimbursements for June and July will not be processed until August with a likely payout in September (please continue to stay current with your applications for reimbursement). • The Health and Wellness program is being evaluated and may provide a yearly reimbursement instead of the current semi-annual reimbursements. , • Summer Camp flyer will be distributed in the near future. • All other programs are under review. We will continue to do our best to make the proper decisions to utilize the funds available to us in an equitable and appropriate manner.

Communications Workers of America

Local 1107

*****Notice of Election*****

The Election Committee Chair, Desmond Robinson, has validated the following petitions:

Secretary Treasurer: Dan Caprara

                                                                                                   No elections will be held since these positions are uncontested.

                                                                                                       Congratulations to the candidates and thank you to all our members.

* * * * NOTICE * * * *

Nomination

FOR

Interim-SECRETARY / TREASURER

CWA Local 1107

MAY 1^st, 2025

As provided in the CWA Local 1107 by-laws article XIV, “Nominations and Election of Local Officers and Shop Stewards”.  Fifteen (15) days notice is hereby giving for the Nominations for the office of:

• Secretary / Treasurer

All Nominations will be by Petition

Petitions can be obtained by contacting the Election Committee, or at the Local Union Office at 200 East Erie Street, Blauvelt, N.Y. 10913

 RULES GOVERNING  NOMINATIONS OF OFFICERS AND BUSINESS AGENTS

Nominations for Officers and Business Agents will be by petition signed by Ten (10) members in good standing of CWA Local 1107.  The petition must be signed by the candidate.  The petition must be sent by U.S. Mail to the Communications Workers of America Local 1107, 200 East Erie Street, Blauvelt, N.Y. 10913, Attention: Election Committee.  Only petitions received in the Local Office no later than 4:30 p.m. on May 15, 2025 will be valid. If elections are required the Election Committee will hold elections in accordance with the bylaws of CWA Local 1107, and the United States Laws governing election of  Union Officers. Date to be announced.

Election Committee :

Desmond Robinson (Chair)          (845) 558-9980

Beginning on May 21, 2025, Verizon and the respective unions have agreed to meet for three weeks in an attempt to negotiate the terms of a possible extension, well in advance of when the current agreements expire.

We will update you on the outcome of this process.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment. 

DISTRICT 1 TOWNHALL CALL

Please hold the date for a districtwide townhall call

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27th AT 7:00 PM

SIGN UP HERE

The 2025 Annual Open Enrollment Dates are as follows:

October 8, 2024 to October 17, 2024 – (these dates are for Active employees and Retirees)

This is your opportunity to review your benefits and make any changes to your benefits.

Retirees are urged to make any changes during the annual enrollment period; however they continue to have “Anytime Enrollment”. When a retiree makes a change outside of the Annual Enrollment period, the change is effective the first of the month following a 30 day period. An exception to the “Anytime Enrollment” for retirees is for those retirees with a NCSD after August 2, 2008 who chose to enroll in the HRA option. Those retirees must remain in the HRA option for the 2025 plan year unless they have a qualifying life event.

Most 2024 elections and designations automatically carry over into 2025 Annual Enrollment. Members who want to stay with their current elections for medical, dental, vision and AD&D life insurance plan without any changes don’t need to do anything.

If you have a Qualifying Life Event between open enrollment and the end of the year, you will need to make changes on BenefitsConnections for both 2024 and 2025. Examples of a Qualifying Life Event are adding a spouse if you get married, adding a child when there is a birth of a new baby etc.

Annual Enrollment Guides are in the mail to employees and retirees now.

ACTIVIST ALERT