Vermont-NEA News

We Came Ready to Bargain. VSBA Came Ready to Bar Educators from Talks.

As you know, the first meeting of the Commission on Public School Employee Health Benefits occurred on April 1. Your bargaining team spent more than eight months preparing for this day, working hard to hit the ground running.


Unfortunately, the Vermont School Boards Association team spent the first day of bargaining attempting to bar members of our team – our four alternates – from the table instead of focusing on the actual proposals.

Indeed, the VSBA on Friday filed an unfair labor practice charge asking the Vermont Labor Relations Board to remove our alternates from negotiations. It’s unfortunate that they chose to go this route instead of focusing on reaching an agreement on health insurance that affects all school employees and their families. Earlier today, we issued a press release about the situation to the state’s media outlets.

We had of course hoped that after eight months of preparation by our team, we would be off and running debating the relative merits of our competing proposals. We only have until August 1 to reach an agreement before impasse is declared.

Now that proposals have been exchanged, we want to update you on where we stand.

The VSBA proposal would saddle all school employees with 30 percent premium contributions; balloon all school employees’ out-of-pocket costs more every year; make it harder for the lowest-paid school employees to obtain health insurance; and shift most of the risk of future premium increases to school employees. 

Our proposal would guarantee insurance coverage for all school employees who are contracted the requisite number of hours required currently to be eligible for insurance coverage; would keep intact current premium cost-sharing arrangements in districts to allow for an orderly transition to a statewide standard; provide health reimbursement arrangements for out-of-pocket costs with employers paying more for lower-paid employees; and establish a single third-party administrator.

We have established a website to keep you informed and to get involved. On the site, you’ll be able to see the full proposals, meet your bargaining team, and ask for more ways to organize around this important issue.

Your bargaining team remains committed to achieving accessible, affordable, and equitable health care for educators and their families.
 

Julie Longchamp Apr 10 2019
@vtnea