Raytheon accord ratified.

Members of Local 1505 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers unanimously ratified a new 2-year contract, covering some 9,000 bargaining unit employees at Raytheon Co. plants in 14 cities and towns in Massachusetts. (Raytheon, the largest single employer in the State, is the defense contractor that produces the Patriot Missile.) The major stumbling block in the negotiations was the parties' disagreement over increased employee contributions and levels of deductibles under the health care plan.

Terms of the contract provide for retention of the health care plan, including the current employee copayment (0.5 percent of pay for individual coverage and 1 percent for family coverage) and deductibles; establishment of a joint committee to study the feasibility of instituting a Raytheon network of managed-care hospitals offering discount rates; a new optical plan; and several enhancements in the dental plan, including an increase in the payment schedules for dental benefits (from 70 percent of expenses to 80 percent of expenses) and orthodontic benefits (from 50 percent to 80 percent), and in the lifetime maximum (from $750 to $2,000).

Other terms include annual wage increases of 4 percent; an increase in the monthly pension rate, from $24 per year of credited service to $26; a 15percent increase (to $420 for regular benefits and $460 for long-term benefits) in maximum weekly accident and sickness benefits; retention of pay for 8 weeks for an employee downgraded because of a reduction-in-force; and a drop in years of service requirements for paid vacations, from 12 years to 5 years for 4 weeks of vacation and from 25 years to 22 years for 5 weeks of vacation.