UNIONS DISAPPOINTED WITH CITY’S DECISION TO WALK AWAY FROM MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN HEALTH CARE SAVINGS

PITTSFIELD – Union leaders today expressed disappointment in the city’s decision to abandon plans to enroll municipal employees in the state’s health insurance system – which has the potential to save the City of Pittsfield and its employees an estimated $5 million in annual health care costs.

Negotiations between city officials and union leaders over whether Pittsfield employees should enroll in the Group Insurance Commission broke off earlier today when the two sides split on the issue of health care for retirees.

“We are extremely disappointed in the city’s actions,” said Scott Eldridge, president of the 596-member United Educators of Pittsfield and vice chairman of the committee of public employees formed to negotiate the GIC option with city officials. “The city has walked away from millions of dollars in annual savings – Money that could and should be spent on our public schools, roads and bridges, and other vital services.

“What is most disappointing is that the city took the position that the savings should be split evenly between the employees and the city,” Eldridge added.  “We made an offer that did that, which the city rejected and then followed up with a proposal to keep nearly 70% of the savings at the expense of the retirees.” 

City officials and representatives from the city’s 17 public employee unions and a retiree representative began meeting in August to discuss the option of enrolling city employees in the Group Insurance Commission, which provides benefits to more than 294,000 employees statewide. Negotiations ended today after city officials rejected the latest proposal presented by the public employees unions.

The public employee committee’s most recent proposal would have maintained retiree benefits without any additional premium costs. The plan put forth by city officials required retirees to pay up to $420 more a year in insurance premiums and significantly more in co-payments and deductibles.

“It is our hope that representatives for the city will return to the table and resume negotiations for joining the GIC,” said Pamela Delmolino, who is chair of the public employees committee and president of the Pittsfield Federation of School Employees, Local 1315, School Secretaries Union. “This is a worthwhile pursuit, but we can’t strike a deal at the expense of our retirees, who are our most vulnerable citizens.”

Union leaders representing 1,500 Pittsfield municipal employees formally voted in August to establish a public employee committee, an important step toward coalition bargaining. A law, signed by Governor Deval Patrick last year, allows local unions and their communities to jointly determine whether membership in the GIC would best serve employees and reduce health insurance costs.

Research done by a Boston-based health care consulting firm and the Pittsfield City Council Ad-Hoc Health Insurance Committee estimates that there was a potential $5.2 to $5.6 million annual savings by enrolling city employees in the Group Insurance Commission.