It was brought to our attention that Aetna has increased our health insurance premiums by 17.85%. We are meeting with NPS and the other union heads tomorrow to discuss this untimely increase further. It is important to note that this it wasn't a negotiated or negotiable change. In fact, we warned the then state-operated school board and Superintendent about Aetna in 2016 (see below emails). Short term savings were promised, but as we said at the time, "we hesitate to trust any claim [being] made by the district [about this change]."
The district's choice of providers and what premiums they pay to those providers are managerial prerogative. We can certainly negotiate our percentage of contribution towards those premiums, especially now that they have changed so dramatically. Chapter 78 relief is on the negotiation table of every teacher union local and public employee union in the state, and it is already on our demand list for upcoming negotiations.
It is encouraging to note that the current superintendent has already expressed his concern regarding this issue and shared his next steps with us all. We thank him for the opportunity to revisit all of the district's insurance plans and benefit programs together in the best interest of all NPS-affiliated employees.
Everyone feels their own pain. For some this increase is negligible, for others it may consume whatever increases they have seen. But, every day in this district it’s something new and that something new is never anything good. In fact, all the good we have accomplished in the last two years gets washed away: the settlement of the 2012 grievance, the raise to $15 an hour for per diems, the 18/19 contract re-opener, the return of our Attendance Counselors, our Civil Service wins, and most of all the Return to Local Control.
Rest assured, we find the action unconscionable—yet another land mine left in the ruins to further disable Newark’s educational community. Our members are the best in the State and deserve every second of every day of their Winter Recess, and no one would blame us if we didn’t come back. But, these are our schools, our kids and we are committed to restoring and returning to them a great school system. We will continue to fight for the compensatory relief we deserve.
In Solidarity,
John M Abeigon
President & Director of Organization
Newark Teachers Union, Local 481, AFT, AFL-CIO
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Date: Fri, Jun 24, 2016 at 11:24 AM Subject: State Employee Health Benefits From: Abeigon, John Colleagues, Last month, the Newark Public Schools announced their unilateral intention to drop out of the School Employees' Health Benefits Programs to go with their own provider (AETNA). This was done without consulting the staff or unions representing staff. In fact, 87.5% of staff surveyed said they were “strongly opposed to this change.” But this will have a far bigger ramifications than just on Newark’s employees. This will result in 6,000 employees being pulled from the SEHBP. The end result can only be higher costs for tax payers and staff members remaining in the SEHBP. This is sabotage on the highest level! |