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After union members step up, county backs away from retiree health changes
NEW CITY — After CSEA retiree and active members in Rockland County spoke out against county officials’ planned changes to its retiree health insurance plan, the county has backed away from the changes.
CSEA Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo and
several dozen
Rockland County
retirees recently held a news conference in New City to publicly thank officials who stood with our members.
“Thank you to
all of the legislators
who stood up both
for our retirees and
our current members
who hope to retire
from county service,” Riccaldo said. “Our retirees invested decades of their lives serving the people of our county knowing that their salaries weren’t lucrative, but that their health care benefits could not be
diminished in retirement. Our work with legislators these past few weeks demonstrates how collaboration benefits not just our workers and retirees, but the entire county.”
A bipartisan group of county legislators and their staff worked
with us to halt
County Executive
Ed Day’s attempt
to abruptly switch county retirees’ health insurance coverage from NYSHIP to Aetna. Following media coverage questioning Aetna’s claims approval process, Day announced that he is backing away from this plan.
In addition to violating a county law protecting
county workers’ health insurance in retirement, the plan was expected to force Medicare-eligible retirees from a traditional Medicare plan under NYSHIP to a privatized Medicare
CSEA Rockland County retirees joined Rockland County legislators, CSEA Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo and Labor Relations Specialist Larry Sparber for a news conference at which retirees thanked the legislators for their advocacy.
April 2018
The Work Force 9
“Our work with legislators these past few weeks demonstrates how collaboration benefits not just our workers and retirees, but the entire county.”
Advantage plan that excluded certain local providers and hospitals.
Retirees said the effort to stop the switch to Aetna was not a political issue, but a matter of keeping a commitment to the men and women who worked in county service at
the time in their lives when they need consistent, quality health care coverage the most.
One remaining concern is
clarification over the language used in the county’s letter rescinding its withdrawal from NYSHIP. With the letter stating that the county won’t be withdrawing from NYSHIP for the “foreseeable future,” retirees said they want Day to make a clearer commitment on this issue.
— Jessica Ladlee
Knowledge builds strength: labor history course being offered
MANHATTAN — As the labor movement comes under increasing attacks, our members will have an ideal opportunity this fall to arm themselves with some powerful history lessons.
A U.S. labor history course will again be offered by CUNY’s Murphy Institute. Classes will be held at our Metropolitan Region office.
Students will be exposed to critical events in labor history, such as the strikes in the 1950s and 60s that led New York City Mayor Robert Wagner to sign an executive order granting collective bargaining rights to public sector workers here in New York. They'll also be immersed in the lives and work of legendary labor leaders, including A. Philip
Randolph and Walter Reuther. "We’re really excited about this course," said Metropolitan Region
President Lester Crockett. “It's often been said that you don't know where you're going unless you know where you've been. For aspiring labor leaders, this class will help build that foundation.”
The course will examine working class life and the evolution of the U.S. labor movement within the larger framework of U.S. history, with specific regard to class formation, industrial development and the major developments of the organized labor movement.
Students will also explore the relationships of workers to unions, formal and informal economies,
race and gender, technology,
the American state and cultural, political and social movements. Special emphasis will be placed on the issues that gave birth to public sector unionism, the foundations
of the labor movement, and the milestones in the labor movement's progress during the last century.
“CSEA members should have an opportunity to learn this history and see what it took to win the rights we have as union members, especially with the Janus case,” said New York State Psychiatric Institute Local President Theresa Toliver, who took the course when it was offered to members several years ago.
Students will be awarded four college credits upon completion
of the course that can be applied toward a labor certificate or toward a Bachelor's in Labor Studies.
State workers who live in New York State can pay for the class with a voucher from the New York State/CSEA Partnership for Education and Training. Members interested in signing up for
the course should contact the Partnership at 518-486-7814 or 1-800-253-4332.
We are also asking that you
call Joel Schwartz, CSEA deputy director of Contract Administration at 212-406-2156 to let him know you’re registering for the course.
— David Galarza