UUP and the bargaining agent for the union’s support staff have reached an agreement on a new two-year contract that runs through Aug. 31, 2011.

Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1141 ratified the agreement in late September by a vote of 28-5. The contract calls for a general 3 percent salary increase in each of the two years.

As part of the package, the union is offering only one medical plan—MVP Tri Advantage—to its CWA employees. UUP’s non-represented employees also became part of the MVP plan, effective Nov. 1.

Other contract highlights include:

• An increase in the medical opt-out payment to $1,750 per year.
• Enhanced dental coverage though Delta Dental.
• Enhanced vision coverage through Davis Vision.
• An increase in the annual full-time employee-paid health insurance premium as follows: $25 for single coverage and $50 for double/family coverage, effective Nov. 1, 2009; and $50 for single coverage and $100 for double/family coverage, effective Nov. 1, 2010. The premium share of part-time employees will remain the same or lower than the January 2009 premium during the life of the contract.

Forty-seven CWA members at UUP headquarters and at the chapters are covered by the agreement.

— Karen L. Mattison