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September 26, 2008

City, unions reach deal on health insurance

By JOE LoTEMPLIO

Health coverage,

costs improved by cooperative efforts

PLATTSBURGH -- City officials and union leaders have found a way to find significant savings on employee health insurance.

There could be one snag, however.

By self-funding the city's Health Maintenance Organization plan, the city could see a savings of about $210,000 for the rest of this year and more than $518,000 for all of next year.

"This absolutely is a win-win situation for all of us, and the Health Task Force deserves a lot of credit for coming up with this," said Councilor James Calnon (I-Ward 4) who, as mayor pro tem, serves as the council budget officer.

The Health Task Force comprises representatives from the city's five unions, the council and Chamberlain Richard Marks.

Under the plan the group came up with, the city will save on premiums, and employees who pay 15 percent of the cost of insurance will wind up paying less as well.

UNIONS LAUDED

Denise Nephew, president of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, said the deal helps all sides.

"I've been saying all along that if we work together we can find savings because they are out there.

"This definitely is a win-win because it gets us involved, and we can monitor health costs, and it helps the taxpayers."

Nephew and Plattsburgh Public Library union representative Karen Ricketson urged the city to re-form the Task Force this year as a way to find savings.

Mayor Donald Kasprzak said the unions deserve credit for coming to the table.

"This is a great example of people working together in challenging times to find tremendous savings for the city while maintaining the same level of benefits for the employees," the mayor said.

"The Task Force efforts on this are very much appreciated."

NO FIREFIGHTER SUPPORT

There could be one problem, however.

The plan was agreed to by four of the city's five unions: City Police, AFSCME, Municipal Lighting Department and the Public Library.

The Fire Department union has not agreed.

Calnon said he does not understand why.

"This will provide the absolute same coverage. The only inconvenience is that they will have to get new insurance cards."

Calnon said he was told that Fire Department union leaders will not agree to the change because they are in negotiations for a new contract.

Union Vice President Edmund Sanderson said the self-funding proposal is subject to negotiation under state law.

"Our contract with the city expired on Dec. 31, 2007, and we are engaged in negotiations with the city to arrive at a successor agreement," he said.

BARGAINING CHIP'

The city may go ahead with the change even though the Fire Department has not signed off on the deal.

"I suspect they will object and file an improper-practice claim if we do, but that would be totally unfair to the taxpayers," Calnon said.

"The taxpayers should not have to shoulder a $700,000 cost because someone wants a bargaining chip."

The mayor noted that the police and MLD unions agreed to the HMO change even though they, too, are in contract negotiations.

"The lack of cooperation by the Fire Department on this issue is indicative of their attitude of not caring for the taxpayers and their fellow employees," Kasprzak said. "They always put themselves first."

Sanderson said it is the mayor that is spurring the union to file grievances.

"Since the beginning of Donald Kasprzak's tenure as mayor, numerous mayoral decisions have resulted in grievances filed for arbitration and improper-practice charges with the State Public Employment Relations Board," Sanderson said.

"This took the focus away from negotiations."

Sanderson noted that since the city lost a few arbitration cases, the mayor has since conceded in 12 additional cases.

"His administrative decisions have been driving up the cost of the Fire Department legal fees and taking the focus away from ongoing negotiations, which is the proper venue for incorporating an HMO self-funding proposal into the contract," Sanderson said.

The mayor fired back.

"I find it interesting that any time a mayor says no to these guys the number of grievances go inordinately up," he said.

The mayor and council have been struggling with the 2009 budget, which figures to be a challenge because the city is facing serious revenue dips and higher costs for mandated projects.

The Fire Department presented its budget request Monday night, which included a 24-percent increase in overtime pay.

jlotemplio@pressrepublican.com

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