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What is MPI?
MPI is short for MPIPHP, or "Motion Picture Industries Pension & Health Plan." This is the health care and pension plan used by most of the Hollywood Guilds, including the IATSE Locals.The Animation Guild is known as IATSELocal 839. TAG Members receive their healthcare benefits through MPIPHP, as well as two retirement plans—the Individual Account Pension (IAP) and the Defined Benefits Pension.
Healthcare/Healthcare Plans
If you have never participated in the MPI Health Plans, or have not participated in a while, it takes about six months for your health benefits to begin. Your participation is not dependent on your Union application or the status of your Union account. For your initial participation, you need to accrue 600 hours during a qualifying period; once you’ve accrued the allotted hours there is a two-month processing period before your benefits are active. After that, it takes 400 hours per qualifying period to maintain your healthcare benefits, with the ability to save or "bank" any additional hours you work during that period up to 450 hours that can be used during periods when a member is not working. This system is designed to support entertainment workers, who may have hiatuses and normal breaks between jobs to ensure continued healthcare coverage. You will still have to pay copays if you visit a doctor, but the cost of your healthcare premiums does not come out of your paycheck.
Members can choose between three plans,
Blue Cross/Shield (PPO)
Kaiser Permanente (HMO)
Health Net (HMO).
Dental is provided through Delta Dental.
Prescriptions are covered through CVS Caremark.
Vision is provided by Vision Service Plan.
Mental health care is provided through Optum.
For details on any of these plans, please check out these resources:
https://www.mpiphp.org/home/health
Healthcare Bridge (for production workers)
When employees vote to join a union, it is standard practice for the union to attempt to negotiate a "bridge" with the employer. This process is designed to make sure new members do not lose healthcare until they qualify for MPI health plans. Production workers will have healthcare until they accrue 600 hours under MPI.
Pension Plan (IAP and Defined Benefits)
For every hour worked at a TAG contracted studio, the employer makes contributions to the Motion Picture Industry Pension Plan in the name of each member. Those contributions are mandated through the collective bargaining agreement and bring participation in two pension plans: The Defined Benefit Plan (DB) and the Individual Account Plan (IAP). Members will never see a payroll deduction for these plans, and inclusion is automatic.
IAP contributions are made every week equal to 6% of the hours worked at the minimum for your classification. (Ex: If the minimum for your classification is $40/hr, then it would be 6% of $40 x 40 hrs = $96 a week into the IAP. Even if you negotiate more in weekly wages in your personal contract, like $50/hr, the IAP will still be based on the minimum hourly rate($40/hr).
Defined Benefit Plan: Defined benefit plans are kind of like Social Security. To qualify, a member must work five consecutive "qualified years," with a "qualified year" being 400 union hours in a calendar year. When you retire, you will get a monthly check for the rest of your life based on how many union hours you worked in your lifetime.
Currently, the plan accrues $0.03729 per hour for the first 10 years, and $0.04972 after 10 years. So if you work 2000 hours your first year (50 weeks at 40/hours per week), this would be roughly $74.58 for your monthly check after the first year, and if you work 2000 hours the following year, the monthly retirement check would increase to about $149.16 and so on.
For more details on both pensions, visit:
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