January 21 - Hawaii State Legislature convenes
Hawaii’s State Legislature convenes on January 21, 2009. The ILWU plans to send delegations of members and retirees to meet with legislators on opening day.
The ILWU Political Action Committee will continue efforts to protect workers when a company is sold and to pass a worker’s free choice act for workers wanting to organize a union.
The Legislative Session will probably run until late April.
March & April - Units elect delegates to Intl Convention
ILWU Units with finance policies which allow them to send delegates to the International Convention should elect delegates by secret ballot and get leaves of absence confirmed well before mid-April. This is the deadline for the Local to submit names for air reservations.
June 8 to 12 - ILWU International Convention
The International ILWU Convention is scheduled for June 8-12, 2009, at the Westin Hotel in Seattle, Washington.
Delegates from Local 142 will fly out on Saturday June 6 and their return flight will be on Saturday June 13, 2009.
Local 142 must submit all the names of our delegates to the International Secretary-Treasurer by May 8, 2009.
The Convention will nominate candidates for International’s president, vice-president, and secretarytreasurer. ILWU regions will also nominate candidates to represent them on the international executive board.
Secretary-Treasurer and lobbyist Guy Fujimura briefs ILWU participants before they visit the State Capitol for the 2007 Opening Day at the Legislature.
August and September - Election for ILWU International officers
ILWU International officers will be elected by mail ballots. The exact schedule will be determined by the International Convention.
ILWU members should receive a mail ballot around the end of July 2009. The ballots must be returned within 45 days of receiving the ballot.
If there are no challenges, the election results should be announced by the International balloting committee around the end of September..
Winning candidates take office when the election results are adopted by the seated International Executive Board, which will probably meet in October 2009.
August and September - Nominations for Local 142 Division officers
ILWU members who want to run for division offices (division director, business agent, trustees, executive board, and International Convention delegate) must submit petitions signed by at least 25 members in good standing. Petitions must be submitted to the Local SecretaryTreasurer between Sept. 1 and 15.
Petitions may be picked up at ILWU Division Offices beginning August 1, 2009.
August - Training begins for balloting committees
Local, Division, and Unit balloting committees will be organized and trained on the election procedure.
They will set election dates, times, and locations for each ILWU unit.
September 14 to 18 - Local 142 Hawaii Convention
Hawaii’s ILWU Local 142 will be holding its Convention from September 14 to September 18, 2009, at the Sheraton Waikiki.
Units and Divisions may submit Constitutional amendments to the Convention. These must be submitted by August 14, 2009.
Units must elect delegates by secret ballot and all names must be submitted to the Local SecretaryTreasurer by August 1, 2009.
The Convention will also nominate candidates for the local’s president, vice-president, and secretary-treasurer. The industrial groups will nominate candidates to represent them on the local executive board.
Membership meetings to ratify the work of the Convention will probably be held in October 2009.
November 14 to 21 - Local 142 Officers Election
Balloting for ILWU units and for Local 142 officers will take place between November 14 to 21, 2009. The exact dates of the election at your work place will be printed in the VOICE of the ILWU and posted on your bulletin boards.
Units must elect their balloting committee members by September 30.
If there are no challenges, election results will be announced in early December.
Winning candidates will take office on January 2, 2010.
Understanding Dual Medical Coverage
“Dual Medical Coverage” refers to a situation where you and your spouse work for different companies and you both take medical coverage from your employers.
When both plans are “fee for service” type plans under HMSA, the two plans would coordinate benefits so you paid little or no “out-ofpocket” costs. For example, if your plan paid 80 percent of the cost, your spouse’s plan would pay the 20 percent you would normally have paid out-of-pocket.
Some people prefer to continue their “fee for service” plan and their spouse wants to continue their “Health Maintenance Organization” plan like Kaiser. This happens when people want to keep the plan they are familiar with using. In this case, the two plans do not coordinate benefits to reduce your out-of-pocket costs. There is some benefit when people use the plan which covers more of the cost of certain medical procedures. Hospitalization, for example, is far less expensive under Kaiser.
In the past 20 years, as medical plans became more and more expensive, many employers prohibited “dual medical coverage.” The cost to employers, who paid the medical premiums, was much higher than the small benefits received by employees.
Employees could choose to continue individual plans with separate employers, but their dependents had to be covered under one plan or the other, not both.
This change in dual coverage does not affect families where one spouse is covered under the military Tricare plan or Medicare.
Health& Welfare Policies
The ILWU Health & Welfare Trust fund will not coordinate benefits if you or your dependents are covered by more than one plan.
“Dual coverage” is not allowed under most ILWU contracts, including those in the H&W Trust Fund. You, your spouse, and your children can only be covered by one plan. If you spouse is eligible for a medical plan with their employer, they must enroll in their plan. You and your dependents (not your spouse) can be covered under the H&W Comprehensive Medical Plan or Kaiser.
If your spouse is retired military and your family is covered under Tricare, Tricare is primary and benefits are not coordinated with the H&W. The working employee can still enroll under the H&W and use the H&W as primary.
If your spouse is retired and eligible for Medicare parts A, B or D, the law allows your spouse to delay taking Medicare if they are covered by your H&W group plan.
Auto insurance and workers compensation pays first for any medical costs. The H&W pays secondary costs for auto injuries, but not for workers compensation claims.
If you recover medical costs from a third party, the H&W Trust Fund has the right to be paid back for any medical expenses they paid to you. The H&W will ask you to complete a form if your injury might be caused by a third party.
What the words mean
Co-payment - Refers to your share of the cost of the medical plan premium paid by your employer. This is usually deducted out of your paycheck.
Out of Pocket - Medical plans pay 80 or 90 percent of certain medical costs. You pay the remaining 20 or 10 percent to your doctor or hospital. This is called your “out of pocket” expenses.
Fee for Service - This is a kind of health plan were you can choose to go to any doctor and the medical plan pays some of the costs and you are billed for some of the costs.
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