Benefits Corner

Benefit Representatives

Any questions, please contact Mary Gill, day shift, 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 216-265-5879 or Joe Corn, split shift, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 216-265-5879 or Tom Strozier, 2nd shift, 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at 216-265-5879.

LOCAL 1005 BENEFITS NEWSLETTER

MET LIFE: If you have optional life insurance being taken out of your payroll check, the waiver begins May 1st, 2010 through the month of June, 2010. Dependent life insurance waiver begins in May, 2010 and runs through December, 2010.

P.S.P. (PERSONAL SAVINGS PLAN): Employees who were automatically signed up (enrolled) for the 3% payroll deductions, can call 1-800-489-4646 to get themselves dis-enrolled. You must call by May 28th, that will be the last day to dis-enroll yourself.

KAISER: Open enrollment for UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust effective from May 1, 2010 til December 31, 2010. Regular retirees (Non-Medicare members) must call the Veba Trust # 1-866-637-7555 to enroll. If you are medicare eligible, you will also need to contact the Kaiser Permanente Medicare Enrollment Center to complete your enrollment. Call toll free at 1-877-407-9523 seven days a week, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Any questions, please contact Mary Gill, day shift, 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 216-265-5879 or Tom Strozier, 2nd shift, 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at 216-265-5879 or Joe Corn, second shift, 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ar 216-265-5879.

Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) Plan

In the event of layoff, the SUB Plan provides a very substantial level of income security to supplement any state unemploment you receive. Under the SUB Plan you may receive the following benefits:

REGULAR SUBENEFIT for a full week of layoff from GM;

SHORT WEEK BENEFIT when you are laid off from GM for part of a week.

SEPARATION PAYMENT upon termination of employment because of layoff or total and permanent disability.

Regular SUBenefit - For a Full Week of Layoff From GM

Eligibility
You may be eligible for a regular SUBenefit for a full week of layoff if you have one or more years of seniority under SUB Plan and are laid off due to:
reduction in force, disconuance of a plant or operation, temporary layoff or being unable to do work offered by the plant but able to do other available work in the plant if you had more seniority.

To be eligible, you must receive a state system benefit such as state unemployment compensation (UC) or unemployment insurance (UI), or be denied such benefit only for an acceptable reason under the SUB Plan.
While on Protected status, if you refuse an Area Hire job offer, you will be placed on layoff. While on layoff status, if you refuse an Area Hire job offer, you will cease to be on a qualifying layoff and will not be eligible for SUBenefits.

If you are laid off from Plant A, accept a job at Plant B and subsequaently quit Plant B, or your employemnt at Plant B is terminated, for any reason other than to accept recall to Plant A, you will be ineligible for SUBenefits for the duration of your continuous layoff from GM.

You will not be eligible for a regular SUBenefit if your layoff was for disciplinary reasons or was a consequence of: any strike, slowdown, work stoppage, picketing or concerted action, at a Company plant or plants, or any dispute of any kind involving, generally, employees covered by this Plan;any fault attributable to you, the employee; sabotage (including arson) or insurrection; or any act of God, after the first two consecutive full weeks of layoff resulting from such cause for which regular SUBenefits are payable. Generally, if you refuse a GM employement interview or job offer within your Area Hire area after your 4th full week of layoff, SUBenefits eligibility will be terminated until you return to work for GM. Refusal of such a job offer during the first 4 full weeks of layoff generally will disqualify you for SUB for one week.

Duration of Benefits
Subject to the SUB Maximum Financial Cap, if you are laid off with at least one year of seniority as of your last day worked prior to a qualifying layoff, and are otherwise eligible: You may be laid off for a cululative maximum of 48 weeks due to volume-related declines (including individual days of layoff) during the term of the 2003 Agreement. During this 48 week period, you will be paid SUBenefits as long as you satisfy all eligibility requirements under the SUB Plan. Following your 48th week of volume-related layoff, you will be returned to the regular active employement roll or placed on Protected status. You may be laid off in excess of 48 weeks due to non-volume-related reasons, and will be paid SUBenefits until the expiration of the 2003 Agreement, as long as you satisfy all eligibility requiements under the SUB Plan.

Life and Disability Coverages for Employees on Layoff
Coverages may be continued for the following periods, after the month in which you last worked prior to layoff: For the first month, all basic life, extra accident and survivor income benefit insurance, as well as sickness and accident and extended disability benefit coverages in force, are continued with GM paying the full cost. After the first month, basic life, extra accident and survivor income benefit insurance coverages are continued at no cost to you, if you are on a qualified layoff, for up to 12 months (24 months, if you have 10 or more years of seniority). The period these coverages will be continued without cost to you is based on your years of seniority, as shown in the chart on page 51.

After the period of GM-paid continuation described above, you may continue basic life, extra accident and survivor income benefit insurance coverages up to an additional 12 months of layoff, while your seniority remains unbroken, by making the requird monthly contribution. If you are placed on layoff immediately upon your return to work from disability leave of absence, the day you return from such leave will be deemed to be the day you last worked prior to layoff. However, only those life and disabilty coverages in force on your last day at work prior to your disability leave can be continued.

If you are recalled from permanent layoff, and are agin laid off prior to becoming eligible for sickness and accident and extended disability benefit coverages, these coverages may not be continued, as described above. In such case, the number of months that basic life, extra accident, ans survivor income benefit insurance coverages are continued following layoff will be equal to the number of months remaining to you (as of the last day of the month immediately preceding the date you return to work) plus two additional months, provided at Corporation cost. If eligible to continue, you must pay the required monthly contributions to continue any optional life and dependent life insurance. Personal accident insurance may be continued during layoff whether or not basic life insurance remains in effect, provided you make the required contributions. The maximum period that coverage may be continued after the month in which you last worked prior to layoff is based on your years of seniority as of your last day worked as shown in the chart on page 51.

Health Care Continuation for Laid Off Employees
If you are laid off, your coverage as an active employee ceases at the end of the month in which you last are in active service, as defined under the Health Care Program.

Thereafter, generally you are entitled to a number of months of Corporation contributions for health care coverages, (except dental for individuals laid off prior to October 6, 2003) based upon your seniority at the time of layoff, as shown in the chart below.

After the period of Corporation contributions described below, you will be given a notice explaining your health care continuation rights under COBRA.
The information below does not apply if you return to work from permanent layoff and are laid off again or become disabled before receiving earnings for 12 pay periods during a calendar year. In such a case, you will be limited to the number of health care continuation months you had remaining as of the end of the month prior to your return to work from layoff, plus two addition months.

             Steve "Fram" Frammartino 
            President UAW Local 1005