Union Update – Sep 27, 2018

Dear colleagues,

As you may be aware, come January 1, about 30 of our full-time colleagues will be forced by the District to begin paying for healthcare for themselves and their families.

The District is enforcing a cap on full-time health benefits that will go into effect on January 1, and they want caps on health benefits to be the new normal going forward. The 2019 cap, if it remains in place, will cause members with 2 or more dependents on two of the available plans (Anthem HMO Traditional and PERSCare PPO) to pay $2,800-$3,900 in premiums out of pocket in 2019. Over time, as prices increase, the cap would force faculty on other plans to pay out of pocket for premiums. Furthermore, the district has proposed an unacceptable two-tier plan with a much lower cap for new hires. This would deny full health coverage for all newly-hired faculty with dependents.

We don’t see any reason why we should reverse a 60-year tradition of caring for the people who work here. The college is in the midst of one of its best budgetary years ever, due to our hard work (and the new funding formula). That formula promises strong budgets for the coming years as well.

Can we count on you to come to the Board of Trustees meeting next Wednesday, October 3 from 6:50 pm – 7:30 pm? We need to come out to support our colleagues who will be speaking about what these increased health care costs will mean for their families, and about the need for our campus to provide access to healthcare for all employees.

Your presence makes a difference–when we showed up to Board meetings last spring, we were able to restore part-time counseling hours, and we helped save Zebra Coffee. Together, we can move the Board again.

Let us know we can count on you to show up by filling out this form.

In Unity,

Stephanie Rosenblatt

CCFF President