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Association of Ameritech/SBC Retirees
Newsletter To the Membership: I would like to thank the membership for supporting the overall objectives of the AASBCR. I urge you to use the Web page, www.aasbcr.org to keep abreast of developments. Please take a moment to consider the following: 1. The major corporations of America have successfully lobbied to cut your earned benefits. The 2003 SBC annual reports states that its retiree expense will be decreased. All the while our health care premiums (expense) have increased. Each of us must "lobby" our Congressional legislators to halt the draconian cutbacks and cost shifting. 2. A volunteer organization like AASBCR can only succeed with "volunteers". I urge each of you to help your organization, we need volunteers to work as:
Legislative VP I can guarantee that the work is stimulating and your efforts will be rewarding. As we enter the Holiday season, I want to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving; indeed we have a lot to be thankful for. Ralph
Kolderup We are now in the middle of our membership renewal drive. Yes, as surprising as it may seem, we have been here over a year and for us to continue, your financial support is required. As last year, we are asking for a $25 remuneration. The vast majority of these sums will go to support our SBC relationship initiatives and internal/external communications such as the expansion of our Web Site. The renewal notification process is upon a member’s anniversary month. You will be notified accordingly. For the success of your retiree association, it is imperative that you continue to support Association initiatives by renewing your membership, volunteering some of your time and asking fellow retirees to join us. (Just as we were about to distribute this Newsletter, we received a letter from Karen Jennings, Executive V.P-H.R. The letter extensively references the recent AASBCR- SBC HR meeting. We have posted a copy of the Ms. Jennings letter on our Website) Robert Papierniak and Bruce Beckman recently met with SBC Benefits management folks at Hoffman Estates. Led by Ken Fenoglio, SBC Midwest, VP Benefits; SBC was represented by four individuals. These four folks represented benefits, employee discounts and HR. The key elements of our conversation focused on: 1) The drastic changes taking place with what was formerly known as Concession and the lack of familiarity of the discount program by the Service Reps. According to the SBC folks, these changes are an effort to consolidate the concession plan into one service”. It was mentioned that many AASBCR members have expressed the belief that SBC@Home has all the earmarks of being a sales channel for SBC. They are in the process of reviewing whether the SBC@Home is being properly administered. They will be providing us an update and we will share any follow-up with the AASBCR membership. 2) The continued question of medical benefit coverage of 1992 SWBT retirees vs. 1992 Ameritech retirees. They promised to review the question and return to us. They have asked for examples of where this is occurring. This will be provided. 3) Another year of giving retirees 20 days to make Medical benefit changes. Much discussion was over how more lead time could be provided without any resolve. This is not the first time this issue has been discussed. They have promised to review the issue again. (We have subsequently received feedback that the issue of open enrollment for retirees will be reviewed.) 4) We told them that because there appears to be significant pricing differences between retirees and active employees, we believe retirees should have more coverage options. We have suggested that retirees should have some control over the development of these kinds of options. SBC stated that because this is our initial discussion, some time will be needed to review. We indicated that retirees want a more active role in the decisions being made regarding health care coverage. This concept was met with a sense of agreement. We will be meeting again on this issue. The AASBCR is in the process of developing State Directorships. Ray Sternot has taken on the reins of Ohio as has Herb Zuegel for Illinois with the Michigan Directorship to be announced shortly! Anybody who is interested in serving as the state director for Wisconsin or Indiana, please contact Ralph Kolderup. By now most of you have received you annual medical premium notices. The Association is in the process of comparing the 2005 retiree rates in the Ameritech territory with other SBC entities and active employees. Needless to say, the increases have been substantial We have been able to identify a couple of instances where active employee medical premiums have gone down as retirees have risen. If any of you can gain copies of active employees selection options with premiums, please let us know. Please contact Bruce Beckman. The Association is still asking for someone to step forward and serve as Chairman of the Legislative Watch Committee. This is a VP level spot and is the most exciting position on the AASBCR Board of Directors. More and more of our initiatives will be focused in this area and this person will have an opportunity to build the strategy for AASBCR specific issues and will have a lead role with the National Retiree Legislative Network where 15-20 major retiree groups have tied together to initiate legislative actions to protect retiree benefits . If interested in being part of this initiative, please contact Ralph Kolderup. Thank you again for your support. Have a Happy Holiday Season- The AASBCR Board of Directors. |