Continuation of Certain Retirement Programs. During the 2000–2005 term of the National Agreement, a number of unrepresented employee groups chose to become represented and form new bargaining units. At that time, the Coalition and Xxxxxx Permanente agreed that where a new bargaining unit was formed of employees who were participants in the Xxxxxx Permanente Salaried Retirement Plans A and B, or Permanente Medical Group Plans 1 and 2, those benefit formulas would be temporarily maintained, despite the employees’ transition into a new bargaining unit, in order to explore the possibility of developing a joint, consistent recommendation on how to handle retirement benefits in these circumstances. The parties agree that the bargaining units that retained these benefits under that side letter will continue to keep those benefits for the duration of this Agreement, unless the parties mutually agree to convert them to another plan. The parties remain committed to working on a joint vision and strategy for retirement programs. To that end, the joint Labor Relations Subcommittee of the Strategy Group will be commissioned to explore the feasibility of a joint vision. Within that, the Labor Relations Sub Group will submit to the LMP Executive Committee a recommendation on how to handle future employee groups who choose to become newly represented groups, and how to handle non-union employees who are accreted into existing bargaining units.
