WHEATLAND TUBE Workers will weigh pact offer

WHEATLAND, Pa. -- Wheatland Tube Co. production workers would have to make a monthly contribution to their health-care costs under terms of a company contract offer to be considered Sunday.
Officers of Local 1660 of the United Steelworkers of America are making no recommendation on the proposal. The company has said this is its final offer.
Union President Michael Munger said an informational meeting is set for 8 a.m. Sunday at Farrell VFW.
The three-year proposal would be retroactive to Sept. 1.
The 470 members of Local 1660 have been on strike since April 28, when their old contract expired.
Preliminary information presented to members Monday showed the proposal includes hourly wage increases of 40 cents the first year, 30 cents the second and 50 cents in the third. The company had been insisting that members begin paying a percentage of their monthly health-care insurance premiums, but this proposal calls for a flat $50 per month employee contribution beginning in January.
The insurance package would drop from 100 percent coverage to a 95-5 percent plan in which employees would pay the first 5 percent of health-care costs up to a maximum of $500 for single employees and $1,000 for families.
Prescriptions would go from $8 to $10 each, and doctor's visits would go from $10 to $15.
New employees would no longer get a company pension, but would be offered a 401(k) savings plan with a company match of 50 percent of an employee's contribution, up to the first 6 percent of wages, plus an annual company contribution of 1.5 percent after the first year.