In the last edition of the Live Wire I wrote about the ongoing arbitration that we were embroiled in at Entergy. Since then I am happy to report that after seeing the evidence that the Local had the company agreed to settle. The final amount that Entergy inflated for 2005 was $820,000. This is for one year; the 2006 inflated cost will be calculated in 2007 and applied in 2008 as part of the settlement. The settlement will also ensure that our members will be paying health care costs that are actual Blue Cross Blue Shield projected claims, Blue Cross Blue Shield administration fees and the cost of the specific stop loss insurance. This is in place of the inflated calculations that Entergy used and the stop loss insurance that they billed us, but never purchased. In addition to the new calculation, $210,000 will be returned to the members in 2007. Furthermore another $67,000 will be saved for the year 2007 by calculating the cost correctly unlike 05 and 06.

I would like to again thank David Leonardi, Marty McCabe, and Thorborn Associates for their help and dedication during the last two years. We literally had thousands of documents to review and without this team effort the settlement would not have been possible.

On the National front, Local 369 was notified that the per capita, the amount that the National Utility Workers Union charges the Local for dues, is going up again. The increase is .42 which will increase local 369 dues to $16.10 per week January 1, 2007.

In closing, Happy Holidays and best wishes for a Healthy and prosperous New Year to you and your family.