Health Fund Special Report

From Your Union Health Fund Trustees

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In 2011, UPS demanded new cuts in your medical benefits and forced the issue to arbitration.

Local 804 stood firm—and we won.

  • We defeated new benefit cuts.
  • We won benefit improvements. Out-of-network emergency coverage is restored.
  • We added millions to the Health Fund and negotiated higher benefit contributions from UPS to protect your benefits for the future.

When we took office two years ago, we inherited a Health Fund in crisis. The Fund had been losing millions of dollars a year every year for almost a decade.

The Fund's actuary told us the fund was going broke and would be at more than $13 million in the red this year.

UPS was demanding monumental cuts including making retirees pay more than $1,100 a month for family coverage and eliminating 25 & Out retiree healthcare coverage.

Ignoring the problem and letting the Fund go bankrupt was not an option. Neither was accepting UPS's massive cuts.

We sat down with UPS and negotiated an agreement to save your medical coverage. The agreement included some tough medicine. But we also defeated many cuts.

We saved affordable retiree healthcare and 25 & Out. And we put millions of dollars in reserves back in the fund.

UPS and our the former Local 804 officials drove our Health Fund into the ditch. We towed it out.

Six months later, UPS turned around and demanded more cuts. We were not about to let that happen.

The company trustees forced the issue to arbitration. Local 804 stood our ground—and we won.

Local 804’s strong stand paid off. In an arbitration victory this October:

  • We stopped UPS's proposed cuts—every single one.
  • We improved benefits. Effective January 1, out-of-network emergency coverage are restored. (Click here for more details).
  • We are protecting your benefits for the future. Our arbitration victory will guarantee that the Fund has a healthy level of reserves and protects members from benefit cuts for the life of the contract.

After years of mismanagement, your Local 804 Health Fund is back on track.

Click here to read Part II of the Health Fund Special Report.