Brockton poised to be only third community to reject health insurance law
Of the 55 Massachusetts communities that have voted on accepting the state’s municipal health insurance reform law, only two have said no.
Brockton is about to become the third. That, say experts and others who have adopted the law, could be a costly mistake.
“In doing this, Brockton stands out and is clearly leaving” savings on the table, said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
The foundation prepared several reports last year detailing the cost of municipal health care and the potential savings under a move to the state’s health system, the Group Insurance Commission.
Widmer said he wasn’t surprised that Brockton opted to try to find health savings through collective bargaining, but that they would rule out the reform law as a bargaining chip before negotiations began.
“Other municipalities have saved money through collective bargaining. That’s perfectly appropriate,” he said. “But clearly the prospect of the reform being adopted helped drive an agreement that otherwise might be elusive.”
Voting as the Finance Committee Monday night, all 11 city councilors voted against adopting the state health care reform law, which would allow the city to change city employees’ health insurance plans without going through collective bargaining.
It would have meant lower premiums – $4.9 million lower for Brockton, according to Chief Financial Officer John Condon – but higher co-pays and the introduction of annual deductibles.
City councilors, most of whom carry the city’s health insurance, chose to leave the system as is, with the promise from union representatives that they would make serious concessions at the bargaining table to help save the city money.
Currently, most city employees have $5 co-pays, and no annual deductible.
The final vote on the proposal comes Monday night at the full City Council meeting, but votes rarely change.
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Chartwells workers fight for benefits | The Miami Hurricane
Chartwells employees are in the process of forming a union to demand increased benefits, higher pay and better working conditions from the dining services company.
Chartwells is the company on campus that runs all the food services, ranging from the restaurants in the food court to the dining halls, with the exception of the Rathskeller and Subway. The company is owned by Compass USA, a corporation that owns numerous dining service companies throughout the United States.
STAND, Students For a New Democracy, began to get involved after working on a summer campaign to enable former Sbarro employees to continue working at the university after the restaurant closed to accommodate the temporary Rathskeller. STAND is an on-campus organization that works to fight social injustice in Miami.
“We spent a lot of time talking to workers at both dining halls,” said junior Dylan Beasley, a member of STAND. “Over and over again I heard the same story. First it’s, ‘Life is fine.’”
But as Beasley and other STAND members continued their relationship with Chartwells employees, STAND discovered they were anything but “fine.”
The Chartwells employees contacted the Service Employee’s International Union, known as SEIU, which is an international labor union with 2.1 million members. SEIU helped Unicco members organize in 2006.
Through the union, Unicco members were able to get increased wages.
“Almost 300 workers are involved,” said Catalina Gonzalez, the SEIU union organizer working with Chartwells employees. SEIU hopes that “the great majority contract out of the union so they have a bigger voice,” Gonzalez said.
Chartwells does provide options for employees who have issues with the management. The company provides employees with an anonymous phone line that they can use to call in concerns.
Additionally, the workers have the option to talk to human resources personnel. However, employees have not found success through these methods.