There is a pattern, or here it comes again.

E.T.I. 2009
Texas 2005

In Texas they don’t think promises need to be kept to State employees. The idea is to eliminate the state contribution for retirees' dependent health insurance premium, reduce appropriations to the state retirement system, implement a tiered coinsurance plan for state employees and require persons who spend more on health care to pay a larger portion of the expense; reduce the state's contribution to state employee health insurance costs from 100 percent to 90 percent for active employees, and require state retirees under age 65 to pay part of their health insurance costs.

December 2006 San Diego

The county will stop paying $30 million annually for health care for thousands of current and future retirees.

New Federal rules will require public pension systems to list among their debts all future health care benefit payments to retirees. Listing retiree debt will make pension plans a prime target for “debt reduction”.

This is not a pleasant thing to do, one politician said after voting to kill benefits that had been promised. They keep saying that very few private companies offer guaranteed retirement benefits, and almost none promise retirement health care, as if that makes it OK to break a promise.

2006

GM and the UAW last year agreed to a court settlement requiring union retirees to pay part of their health-care costs for the first time. The accord included a $3 billion fund set up by GM that requires union contributions to help defray retirees' expenses.

February 13, 2007

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration wants cuts to funding for veterans' health care, even as badly wounded troops return from Iraq.

The plan is for consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and then a freeze.

The administration is willingly proposing massive cuts in VA health care with no care for the vets he has maimed in this illegal war.

February 2007, New York SEIU

MSEA-SEIU Members Successfully Protect Health Care

I have a hard time finding success stories anywhere but Maine. Here, we won. Next time?

Keep your eyes open, the legislature will be working on the next set of attacks on our wages and benefits in a year, not 18 months, not two years. The next budget is started at least a year ahead of July 2009. The more success they see with other States cutting benefits and the less they hear from you only encourages the greedy &()*%$$#S.

Late on May 24, legislative leaders reached agreement on a two-year state budget that protects the health care of current and retired state workers.

Legislative leaders rejected demands by some legislators to shift over $20 million in health care costs onto current and retired state workers.

June 15, 2007: After being hit with healthcare cuts for the third time in a year, Local 814 members went to the June general membership meeting and demanded answers.

June 2007

N.H. SEIU gets 10% raise-----or not. VOTES TO BE COUNTED JULY 9.

The agreement between New Hampshire officials and the State Employees Association bargaining team gives about 51 cents an hour raise right away.

And it offers them a 3.5 percent pay hike in 2008. A 5.5 percent hike in 2009, but to get that raise, state employees are going to have to begin paying part of their health care premiums at 25 dollars per pay period going up to $30.00 a pay period. Let’s see, the raise this year is $20.00 a week, they get to keep $7.50 a week, which is about a 1% raise. I don’t know but if the average wage is $35,000.00 then $30.00 a pay period is about 2 ¼ percent of the raise. 3.5 minus 2 ¼ equals a 1 and a quarter percent raise. The third raise 5.5% is now is about 3.5%.

Let’s sum up, in the first year there is a 1% raise, second year a 1 ¼ percent raise and at the end of the contract a 3 ½ percent raise. Total 5 ¾ percent over two years and that doesn’t factor in the health care going to $30.00 bi-weekly during the contract. Do you think they will ever close that barn door? How much more will the legislature want next time? I read what the employees say, not the Union and they are screaming. The door is open!

Steve Norton of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies says for years, the SEA kept health benefits off the table during labor negotiations.

Steve says, the Union’s (My words) folding up and caving in, looks good for future labor negotiations.

“This opens the door to a broader conversation about the mix of wages and benefits” “that’s historic, it obviously hasn’t happened in the past”. Looks like they have developed a big appetite for State employee take aways.

SEIU 1984 officials are recommending it pass.

If my Union ever recommends that something that takes away the best benefit we have should pass, I won’t be calling Ghost Busters.

If you want to know how SEA Union members really feel and how some of them have been fed bull for breakfast read

This Article

E.T.I. 2009

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