Court rules for vested benefits, rights of retirees ALBANY — New York’s highest court has ruled Chair Judy Richards in favor of CSEA in an important case protecting the vested health insurance benefits and rights of retirees. On Dec. 12, the New York Court of Appeals overturned an Appellate Division ruling that would have limited those rights. The case involved retirees from the Newfane School District in Niagara County who had sued after they saw increases in their health care costs, including co-payments, after they had retired – with vested health costs in place under their contracts. The court based its ruling on the language Donohue: State tax proposal is more deception As retirees on fixed incomes, I know many of you are optimistic about the Cuomo administration’s call for “lower taxes” in the new year. But there’s more to this plan than meets the eye. First, more of the same corporate welfare and tax giveaways will not create more jobs. It will actually lead to a loss of jobs and services that New Yorkers rely on. In short, these giveaways are costing New York state a lot of money and having little result. This was the key finding in a recent study on the Governor’s Commission on Tax Reform and Fairness. As it didn’t fit with the political agenda, the state got a new commission chaired by former Gov. George Pataki and former state in the CSEA/Newfane School District contract stating retiree health insurance shall be the coverage in effect on the date the retiree retired. The court held that this language grants vested rights for the lifetime of each retiree. Had the Appellate Division ruling been upheld, these rights would have been strongly limited. The Court of Appeals remanded the case to the trial court for evidence of the bargaining intent to further strengthen the protections. To read the court decision, visit https:// cseany.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Kolbe. pdf. Comptroller Carl McCall. This issue has received very little media coverage. As for the so-called property tax relief, there’s only more deception. Struggling communities across the state have seen no state help. We have also seen elimination of public services and jobs across the state. This has further undermined local economies and contributed to the loss of more than 90,000 public service jobs in the past four years. It’s a vicious circle. Add to the mix state corporate tax breaks at the expense of localities and the result is the economic disaster plaguing communities and stalling our recovery in nearly every part of the state. Now there’s a proposal for property tax relief. But only for communities that stay beneath Message from Retiree Executive Committee As state lawmakers reconvene the annual session in January, each of us has the responsibility to make them listen to the citizens and union members of our great state, and not just the corporations and millionaires. With your help, that message can be relayed not only in Albany, but also in your communities. These are tough times for all of us. We need to start looking at things from the perspective of the workers and retirees who call our state home, not the corporations who call New York their tax break layover. We should be strengthening and developing new ladders to the middle class, as well as restoring some basic fairness in our society. That is why we need YOU, the membership, to join the campaign to make New York work for all, both the working class and retirees! CSEA and the AFL-CIO are encouraging union members, retirees and community members to become more involved by working together to get the job done. We are no longer a one-person show; our issues as union leaders are very similar to those who live in our communities. Together, we can become stronger and more effective in the days ahead. We ask each of you as union brothers and sisters to contact your local union officials and join the forces to work within your communities (attend town and city council meetings, work on political campaigns, write editorials, etc.) on issues that affect each of us — get involved and be vocal! We all need to move out of our comfort zones and become involved on all levels. We should be on our toes and not sit back and wait for the other person to step forward. Our union can only be as strong as we make it. Times will not get easier; you and I know this. We have to fight to ensure our elected leaders fight for working people and retirees. So, please do your part and become more educated and involved as to what is going on within CSEA and your communities. We need to stay united! Happy New Year! Judy Update on state retiree health insurance lawsuit Editor’s Note: The lawsuit discussed in this article affects ONLY New York State Executive Branch and Unified Court System retirees who retired between 1983 and 2011. Work continues on the federal class action lawsuit filed by CSEA and 10 other New York state unions claiming the state illegally raised health insurance costs for retired New York state Executive Branch and Unified Court System employees. The litigation now has a “case management plan,” which sets the schedule for discovery, and then up through and including a trial if needed, typical for a federal court case. The state attorney general’s office and CSEA have agreed to the schedule. CSEA met with Magistrate Judge Hummel on Continued on page 8 Oct. 18, 2013, to confirm the schedule. The next step will be to identify witnesses in the lawsuit for deposition from the state Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. All depositions and discovery must be completed by July 21, 2014. If the case is not decided on motions or settled, the trial date is Feb. 25, 2015. CSEA and a coalition of other unions sued the New York state Executive Branch and the Unified Court System (UCS) in December 2011 on behalf of retirees who retired from the state or the Unified Court System between 1983 and 2011. The lawsuit claimed that the state and UCS violated the contracts that were in effect between CSEA and the state/UCS on the date when each retiree retired, as well as the Contracts Clause of the United States Continued on page 8 2 CSEA RETIREE NEWS
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