The Municipal Labor Committee, an umbrella group of New York City unions, voted Monday in support of a proposal championed by Mayor Bill de Blasio that the mayor says will generate $3.4 billion in health-care savings.Several public safety unions—the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York, the Detectives' Endowment Association, the Sergeants Benevolent Association and the Detective Investigators' Association—voted against the proposal. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association abstained, and the rest of the committee's dozens of unions voted in support.Mr. de Blasio first publicly discussed the proposal to save $3.4 billion on Thursday when he announced a preliminary deal with the United Federation of Teachers on a nine-year contract that includes expected health-care savings of more than $1 billion. The precise details of the health-care measures have remained secret.
Here is how Mulgrew described this plan in an email to members:
I'm pleased to report that the Municipal Labor Committee, the umbrella group representing New York City's 350,000 municipal workers, voted overwhelmingly on Monday to approve the health care savings program.
The city and its municipal unions will convene a joint citywide healthcare committee that will work collaboratively and transparently to identify ways to deliver health care more efficiently and streamline the administration of benefits for all city workers. All the municipal union presidents feel confident that this program will meet the agreed-upon savings targets without diminishing city workers' health care benefits.
With the health care piece in place, we can now move forward with our contract ratification process.
Again, we see the cops and the firemen seem to be the only unions who aren't willing to accept the health care deal/pattern set by the UFT last week in their tentative agreement with the city.
Last night, the UFT's Executive Board backed the deal without seeing the MOA.
That leaves just a Delegates Assembly vote tomorrow, something that is a foregone conclusion given how many delegates are UFT/Unity members.
And so, the only thing that stops the UFT/city tentative contract agreement from becoming the actual contract is if the rank-and-file votes it down.
In coming days, I want to start to write about whether I think the rank-and-file could actually vote the contract down and, if they do, what might happen after that.
In the end, I don't think it's going to be a pretty picture either way.
But first, I'll wait for the Delegate's Assembly on Wednesday and see what additional information we get out of there.
Frm a selfish viewpoint, considering this countr IMHO is in Great Depression II- this is a fair contract,since we're not losing much, if anything. The money is low, but we keep most of our current deal in time and benefits,
ReplyDeleteThat 10% rule on schools breaking the contract is a clear cut payout to the charter school lobby-and that is sad.
Most newbies will vote for this- I don't see how this is rejected overall. This could be a disaster if charters proliferate in grand fashion-and act as a gateway to the final destruction here of public education in NYC. Im voting No on principle, but fully expect it to be ratified. If so, There's a silver lining that we will retain what we,have...for how long....who knows? I don't trust our enemies at all....
...I don't trust them in that their avarice and greed is all consuming-and this contract could , in the long term, end the era of the over $65,000 teacher salary. It's profits over people, every time with these parasites...many of whom shall be in jail. This is why Im voting No.
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