Republic VEBA Participants Get Second Cost Reduction in Two Years
12/21/2007 - Retiree healthcare contributions will be lowered for USW-represented retirees and surviving spouses from former Republic Technologies International that are participating in the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association.
Retiree healthcare contributions will be lowered for USW-represented retirees and surviving spouses from former Republic Technologies International (RTI) facilities in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York that chose to participate in the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA).
Established in 2002, the Republic Retiree VEBA Benefit Trust is an innovative benefit trust fund developed through negotiations between the USW and Republic Engineered Products (REP). REP now owns several of the former RTI plants.
“We continue to stand by our commitment to restore a measure of what was stolen from these retirees by their former employers and the federal bankruptcy courts,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “I’m very proud that our bargaining committees have made it a priority to negotiate this meaningful, ongoing benefit for them.”
Republic makes contributions to fund the VEBA at rates negotiated by the USW. Benefits are determined by a Board of Trustees made up of union and company appointees, depending on funds available in the trust and the needs of eligible retirees.
The retirees’ share was previously lowered from 51% of the total cost of coverage in 2006 to 37% in 2007. The contribution now stands at 25% of the total cost of coverage, with the announced reduction for 2008.
The USW represents 850,000 workers in the United States and Canada employed in the metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and other industries as well as the service and public sectors, including about 2000 members employed at REP facilities in the United States.
