Page 8 - Work_Force_March_2018

CSEA advocates for Rockland retirees in wake of insurance change
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NEW CITY — CSEA is stepping up on behalf of Rockland County retirees after learning that County Executive Ed Day planned to switch retirees from the Empire Plan (NYSHIP) to lower cost coverage through Aetna as of April 1, an announcement that came with few details about the new insurance plan and left many retirees upset over the abrupt change.
As this edition went to press, legislators succeeded in getting
Day to delay his official notice of withdrawal to NYSHIP, allowing needed time to research the Aetna plan. CSEA came to learn that Day and his team were privately planning the insurance change for 20 months, without informing legislators or retirees.
“Our retirees
were blindsided
by this
announcement,”
said Southern
Region President
Billy Riccaldo.
“This process
was conducted
entirely in
private, with Ed
Day directing
the county’s
insurance broker to issue a request for proposals instead of having
a transparent process. It’s just disrespectful to our retirees who gave so much to our county to abruptly switch coverage.”
Riccaldo, CSEA Health Benefits Department Deputy Director Scott Futia and CSEA Labor Relations Specialist Larry Sparber joined retirees in addressing county legislators with questions and concerns at recent meetings. Legislature Chair Toney Earl and his colleagues, in turn, pressed the Day administration for information.
Riccaldo noted that many questions lingered even after retirees met with Aetna staff, due in part to
the fact that Aetna is customizing a plan for the Rockland retirees instead of going with one of its standard plans.
“We have no way of knowing if this coverage is equal to or better than the current coverage because we’ve gotten so few details about this customized Aetna plan,” Riccaldo said. “We have senior citizens worried that they may
have to leave longtime doctors and specialists. We’re not letting this lack of transparency from Ed Day go any further without advocating on our retirees’ behalf. Even into retirement, we never quit on our members.”
The switch also affects active CSEA members employed by Rockland County, as those planning to retire soon would be placed in this same new insurance plan.
“This has mobilized our members,” said Rockland County Unit President Karen Nicholson. “Even those who aren’t planning
on retiring soon see that this could eventually impact them. That this all played out behind closed doors has our members realizing we all need to stay engaged.”
— Jessica Ladlee
Riccaldo
Southern Region political action activists Rick McCauley, left, and Jim Burtis, right, met recently with U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney to discuss our union’s concerns about federal issues affecting working people. Maloney shared our members’ concerns over the continued attacks on workers’ rights, including potential impact of the Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 case being heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also discussed some of his recent local work, including funding he helped to secure to fund new filtration equipment for the City of Newburgh Water Department, after our members working in water treatment there discovered unsafe levels of Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the city water supply.
8 The Work Force
March 2018