LETTER 2

Third Party Valuation

 

Mr. James M. Parent

Assistant Directing Business Representative

District Lodge No. 26

I.A.M.A.W., AFL-CIO

365 New Britain Road

Kensington, Connecticut  06037

 

Dear Mr. Parent:

This is to confirm the understanding and agreement between the Company and the Union concerning alternate medical plan options other than the Company sponsored national plans.

The Company and the Union have agreed that – notwithstanding the provisions of Article 22 – any employee covered by the Agreement may elect to enroll in any one of the qualified alternate plans which, as of April 1, 2005, the Company has accepted and who services the area in which the employee resides, provided:

 

(a)               Except to the extent required by law, nothing herein shall be construed to require the Company to accept any particular alternate plan. Further, to the extent permitted by law, if the Company has accepted, or accepts in the future, any alternate plan, nothing herein shall be construed to require the Company to continue, extend or renew such plan nor to accept in the future any further notice from such plan and the Company reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel any such alternate plan.

(b)               Contributions for alternate plans will be determined annually as follows:

The contribution level for all qualified alternate plans will be equal to the Company sponsored plan (CIGNA) contribution level, plus the third-party valuation of any benefit differential between the alternate plan and the Company sponsored plan, plus any incremental administrative charges over the level of the administrative charges for the Company sponsored plan.

(c)                Employees will pay the following minimum weekly pre-tax contributions for the duration of this Agreement toward the alternate plan provided health care coverage.

 

Effective Date:

 

4/1/2005

1/1/2006

1/1/2007

Employee Only

$ 8.25

$ 9.49

$10.91

Employee Plus Spouse

$19.50

$22.43

$25.79

Employee Plus Family

$26.50

$30.48

$35.05

Employee Plus Child(ren)

$15.25

$17.54

$20.17

(d)               Effective December 6, 2004, to March 31, 2005, the contributions for alternate plans will continue at the levels established on April 1, 2002.

(e)               If any employee’s wages are insufficient to collect the required contributions, the uncollected contributions will be accumulated and an extra week’s contributions will be deducted from future wages until they have been fully collected.

(f)                 There will be an open enrollment period once each year at which time eligible employees will be allowed a choice of the Company health benefits programs or a qualified alternate plan that has been accepted by the Company and that the Company, in its sole discretion, chooses to make available to employees.  With the exception of certain employee life status changes, once an election has been made or the open enrollment period has expired, no change may be made until the next open enrollment period.

Sincerely,

James R. Miller

Vice President, Industrial Relations

Accepted this 6th day of December 2004