Mount Greylock Retirees Address School Committee on Health Insurance
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Several dozen current and retired employees of the Mount Greylock Regional School District attended last week's School Committee meeting to voice concerns that the district might unilaterally raise the percentage of health care costs borne by retirees.
"You're in a negotiation year," 2011 retiree Lucinda Bradley told the committee. "Keep us in mind. Remember these faces. Remember we represent people who loved and continue to love the school, who cared about it, who gave our careers for the students at Mount Greylock.
"I would really hate for that to be spoiled for us and for everyone else. I know, legally, you can do a lot of stuff. Morally, think about that, too."
The legal landscape for municipal retiree health insurance changed in February 2015, when the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that municipalities can change contribution rates for retirees without going through collective bargaining.
Bradley and 30-year teacher and retiree Bill Nieman spoke on behalf of the large group of current and former employees who attended the meeting. Most wore the school's colors to show their allegiance to the junior-senior high school — fidelity they hoped would be reciprocated.
"My understanding is the School Committee is contemplating an increase in retiree health insurance premium costs from 20 percent to 50 percent," Nieman said. "It's considering making the change unilaterally based on counsel's advice that the decision in Somerville, Mass., is applicable."
School Committee member Chris Dodig, an attorney by trade and a member of the panel's negotiations subcommittee, clarified that the district is not currently considering the same split implemented in the Somerville case.
"The only thing I would disagree with is I don't think we've considered going to 50 percent at all," Dodig said. "We've considered whether going away from 80/20 is appropriate. I can't talk about negotiations with [the district's teachers union]. In terms of retirees, we haven't talked about 50 percent."
Nieman welcomed the clarification but went ahead with his prepared remarks, which emphasized his experience as a union negotiator from the 1970s through the 1990s who helped create the conditions many of the current retirees live under. Nieman said he also had experience as a management negotiator through his work on the Massachusetts Teachers Association Board of Directors.
"I think there was a theme to my attitude and actions to negotiating on both sides: to make sure the agreements were fair," Nieman said. "There had to be some reciprocity between the sacrifices on one side and the real gain on the other side.
"The concern here … is the real disproportionate sacrifice that will have to be made by the retirees."
If the district did change retiree contributions on premiums from 20 percent to 50 percent, it would represent a cost increase of more than $2,000 per year for a typical retiree, he said.
"That's a huge amount of money," Nieman said. "That represents a year's heating of a house. So this is a practical hardship that would be experienced by these retirees — not simply a minor budgetary change."
Nieman also told the School Committee there would be "psychic injury" to a vulnerable population if the district decided to raise the cost of health care for retirees.
"At our age, we worry more and more about our health — about the debilitation of our minds and our bodies," Nieman said. "We're not only concerned about our bodies. We're concerned about the health systems that support our bodies. Any change in the health systems that creates a loss causes anxiety.
"Put yourselves in our shoes."
Both Dodig and School Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Greene thanked Nieman and Bradley for their comments and the entire group for attending.
Dodig said he would be happy to talk further about the issue with retirees outside the context of a meeting and emphasized again that a 50/50 split was not on the table.
He also noted that while the School Committee did not have to negotiate a benefit change with retirees, the district is cognizant of how important it is to take care of its former employees. In fact, it is in the interest of the district to do so, he said.
"The School Committee is deeply committed to providing a quality education, and we want to attract quality teachers," Dodig said. "In order to achieve that, we're well aware that we have to offer good wages and good benefits and treat our retirees fairly. I can assure you, that's our goal. It's not always easy … but that's how people up here think about it too.
"I'm confident we'll get there."
Tags: health insurance, MGRHS, retirees,
