Click this link: GradAsstDentalPlan for a PDF of rates and benefits. In short, if you are a TA or RA, your cost will be $128.64 for 12 months of coverage. This includes 2 exams, cleanings, x-rays and as many fillings as you need (hopefully none) with no additional cost. Crowns and extractions are covered at 80% with a $25 co-pay.

You can make an appointment now with any Delta PPO dentist.
Click here to find a PPO dentist near East Lansing.

Visit www.mysmilecoverage.com/MSUGA to enroll.

What does the new plan look like? Click this link: GradAsstDentalPlan for a PDF of rates and benefits.

Glossy brochures are en route, but in short, if you are a TA or RA, it will be $128.64 for 12 months of coverage. This includes 2 exams, cleanings, x-rays and as many fillings as you need (hopefully none) with no additional cost. Crowns and extractions are covered at 80% with a $25 co-pay. If you need to see someone pretty quick – you can make an appointment now with any Delta PPO dentist.
Click here to find a PPO dentist near East Lansing.

Vision Insurance is BACK!

Open enrollment for the popular optional vision plan is once again upon us.

Enrollment will be open from Aug 1 – Sept 30, 2011 for a November 2011 start date. This is a 2 year commitment. Payroll deduction is available. This is a special enrollment period for GEU members only, so you will need to fill out a paper application and fax or mail it to MEBS.

Brochure w-rates 7.1.11
GEU Vision Enrollment Form

The new contract, once ratified by the MSU Board of Trustees, will take effect May 16 2011 and remain in effect until May 15 2015. Below are the highlights. Click here for a more detailed list of negotiated changes.

• ECONOMICS
  • Stipends: 1.5% lump first year, 2%/2%/1% increases subsequent years
  • Dental: New plan with Delta Dental
    • $257 annual premium, 50% paid by MSU
    • 100% coverage, no deductible, no co-pay on preventative care
    • 80% coverage after deductible on oral surgery and crowns
    • Spouse/OEI eligible to enroll
    • Over 90% of dentists in Michigan are in-network; there is also a nationwide network
  • Health Care
    • Elimination of pre-existing conditions clause
    • Increase in per-injury/per-illness cap to $250,000
    • Increase in prescription cap to $25,000
    • Increase in spouse/child contributions to $2200/$2300/$2400/$2500
    • Elimination of cap on OEI enrollment
  • Tuition Waiver
    • Creation of a 100 credit annual fund for TAs with required credits over 9/9/5
    • Establishment of a joint workgroup to improve the coverage and cost-effectiveness of the tuition waiver
  • College of Engineering Fees: deferred by two months
• NON-ECONOMICS
  • Parking: Retained in contract
  • Workload: notification of changes to class size, inclusion of travel time as work
  • TA-Specific Evaluation (SIRS)
  • Full access to workspace
  • Access to confidential meeting space
  • Right to miss work for Martin Luther King Day
  • Clarification of extended bereavement leave
  • Update in parental leave language
  • Update in anti-harassment language
  • Improvements to and continuing GEU input on Appointment Letters
  • Inclusion of GEU on SIAG
  • Clarification of timekeeping procedures
  • Notification to GEU of terminations
• MISCELLANY
  • Appointment periods, covering summer
  • Dues authorization cards with offers of employment
  • Monthly to biweekly
  • When people don’t get paid, we go to the state

GEU members will have an opportunity to vote whether or not to accept this Tentative Agreement.

If the members (and the MSU Board of Trustees) vote to approve the Tentative Agreement, it will become a Contract. If they vote not to approve the Tentative Agreement, the GEU Bargaining Team will head back to the table to continue negotiating on behalf of the GEU members. A failure to ratify means that all tentative agreements are void and the negotiations begin anew.

In either case, we need your full support as GEU members and your presence at GEU events, meetings, and actions.

If you have questions, comments, or ideas, we will be having a Membership Meeting to discuss the Agreement. Please come and lend your voice to the conversation. GEU is you.

WHAT: GEU Membership Meeting
WHEN: Tuesday, April 19, 6:00pm
WHERE: Anthony Hall 1279
RSVP at the facebook event: http://www.facebook.co/event.php?eid=108575645895537

Stay tuned for details… and plan to attend the General Membership Meeting on Tuesday, April 19th, 6:00pm, 1279 Anthony Hall.

As Sam mentioned in the last post, our Bargaining Team and officers burned some midnight oil last night in an attempt to get our contract finished–something the University says is their priority.

It didn’t go so well, so we’re going to be bargaining again tonight. Please stop by and spend a few minutes at our vigil. The Bargaining Team really needs our support right now. We’ll be in the office from 5pm.

If bargaining doesn’t conclude successfully tonight, I will be addressing the Board of Trustees about our concerns. Please come to the Board meeting and show your support. The Trustees need to see that we’re an important part of this University, and your presence at the Board meeting is a very good signal of that.

I hope I can count on your support. See you Thursday night and Friday morning!

Another evening session has been scheduled for tonight at the Nisbet building. Stop by the GEU office for updates as they come in from the bargaining room, and to show your support for the Bargaining Team.

We’ll be grilling hot dogs and veggie dogs, so enjoy a free meal and lend your support before heading to the Capitol. The GEU team will be bargaining the final few issues — stipends and tuition waivers. They’re scheduled to negotiate with the University from 4:00 into the evening, as long as it takes!!! Come out, show your support and give them the energy to seal the deal.

WHAT: Bargaining BBQ (with people heading to the big Capitol rally afterward)
WHEN: Wednesday, April 13, 12:00 – 2:00