ALBANY — CSEA is charging the New York State Thruway Authority with reneging on its promise for negotiated health care costs by unilaterally raising the amount Thruway retirees pay for coverage. Approximately 1,500 retirees were told in December that as of April 1, they would have to pay 6 percent more for their health insurance premiums. That action fails to honor obligations to retirees covered by contracts between CSEA and the Thruway.
CSEA filed a class-action lawsuit against the Thruway Authority in March.
“It’s yet another bad decision in the Thruway Authority’s mismanagement, undermining their credibility and demoralizing the work force,” said CSEA President Danny Donohue. “It says a lot about the misplaced priorities of the authority management that they can be lining up for a huge state bailout while at the same time putting the squeeze on retirees who devoted their careers to state service.”
Last year the authority received more than $1 billion in state appropriations using funds collected from a settlement agreement with big banks behind the 2007 financial market collapse. The recently passed state budget gifts nearly another $1 billion to the authority for the 2016/2017 fiscal year.
“Retirees have earned the right to retire with the health insurance benefits they were promised during their years of service at the Thruway Authority,” said CSEA Thruway Authority Local President Karen Wilson.
“Through their callous actions, the Thruway has created chaos and confusion for an already vulnerable group of people,” said CSEA Capital Region President Ron Briggs. The lawsuit comes amid protracted negotiations on a contract for the 500 CSEA-represented Thruway employees working in technical, professional and supervisory titles across the state. The previous agreement expired June 30, 2011.
CSEA also has a pending federal lawsuit against the Thruway Authority for threatening and then terminating union-represented employees while sparing all management personnel. That lawsuit involves 85 CSEA members who were laid off, forced into early retirement, relocated or bumped. The discovery phase of that lawsuit, filed in 2013, recently concluded.
