CWA Files 301 Suit Against Alcatel-Lucent

CWA filed a 301 suit against Alcatel-Lucent in U.S. District Court for the District of NJ on December 17, 2007.  CWA filed an Executive Level Grievance against Alcatel-Lucent regarding national language specific to the Joint Retiree Healthcare Committee (JRHC) role and responsibilities.  As of the date of the court filing, the Company has refused to accept the grievance as an arbitrable issue.  The 301 suit was filed to compel the Company to arbitrate the grievance.

The Company interprets the language to mean that the JRHC must solve for the difference between the Company's obligation (retiree caps) and the actual amount of the prior year's medical claims, as well as for the projected shortfall for the following year.  The Union's position is that payment must indeed be made to care for the true-Up, and that the JRHC must take the projected shortfall into account when making changes to plan design and/or increasing healthcare premiums.  Clearly, to ignore projected shortfalls would only result in very difficult increases in co-pays, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and/or premiums the following year.  The parties were unable to reach agreement outside the grievance procedure, and Alcatel-Lucent has continued to refuse our arbitration appeals.