Inside AFT

Inside AFT--Week of September 22, 2003

RETIREES PUSH FOR STRONGER MEDICARE DRUG COVERAGE
AFT retirees were among hundreds of seniors who rallied on Capitol Hill earlier this month to oppose legislation that would privatize a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. The retiree activists gathered for a Sept. 4 rally organized by the Alliance for Retired Americans and then lobbied their members of Congress for drastic improvements to the final prescription drug bill. Seniors say the House and Senate bills, now in conference, would move toward privatizing all of Medicare and do nothing to control increasing prescription drug costs. The seniors also are unhappy with coverage gaps in the legislation: Beneficiaries will be responsible for 100 percent of their drug expenses above a set amount. In addition, the measures threaten employer-provided prescription drug benefits for retired workers because they offer no incentives for employers to continue coverage. "It's sad to say, but neither of the bills before Congress is good," says Phyllis Lapidus, a retired member of the United Federation of Teachers in New York who now lives in Florida. The retired teacher met with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Rep. Robert I. Wexler (D-Fla.)."We want a drug bill that comes with Medicare, not instead of it," says Lapidus. "Medicare has been a savior for so many people. We don't want to lose it."
 

ST. LOUIS SECURES NEW PACT DESPITE DISTRICT TURMOIL
Withstanding extreme pressure by management to agree to cuts and givebacks, the AFT-affiliated St. Louis Teachers and School-Related Personnel Union has secured a new contract that preserves benefits--and includes some important new gains. Negotiations with the district began in a tight spot. This summer, the St. Louis school system reported a $90 million deficit and announced school closures and staff cuts. The local called on the AFT national office for help, and the first battle began when the administration scheduled a "job fair" where staff from the closed schools would have to apply for new positions without consideration of seniority/transfer contract provisions. The union mobilized membership against the policy and the administration backed off, following seniority/transfer provisions even though the contract had expired. Meanwhile, management proposed a $1,500 cut in health insurance benefits for all staff--on top of a wage freeze. The final settlement is a one-year agreement with the understanding that if funds become available, staff salaries will receive first consideration. There are no cuts in health insurance, and the local also secured cash-out provisions for unused sick days and personal days. A major breakthrough was agreement on binding arbitration of grievances as the top step of the grievance procedure, replacing advisory arbitration with final authority resting with the school administration. Other gains include language on school discipline and special education, along with a new labor-management committee structure.
 

CFT WINS TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON HEALTHCARE REOPENER
The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (CFT) reached a tentative agreement last week that should help protect members from the exploding cost of healthcare coverage (see related story, below). The three-year agreement--a reopener of the union-district agreement on healthcare--offers new vision care benefits, a beefed-up reimbursement program for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, and only modest increases in employee contributions in two of the next three years. Members are to vote on the pact at the end of the month. "This negotiation was hard fought [and] your bargaining team worked diligently to obtain reasonable compromises and changes to the health plan," CFT president Sue Taylor and Betty Grawe Hodson, president of the affiliated Association of Cincinnati Public School Office Personnel, told members in a Sept. 15 letter announcing the tentative agreement. If ratified, the plan not only will achieve the bargaining team's goal of preserving coverage while controlling costs, it also will "take one potentially volatile issue" off the table when the union sits down with the district to negotiate a new contract, Taylor says.
 

HEALTHCARE PREMIUMS SKYROCKETING, SURVEY SAYS
Health insurance premiums for employees rose 13.9 percent in 2003, the third consecutive year of double-digit increases and the highest premium increase since 1990, according to a recent survey of employers. The 2003 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey, released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust on Sept. 9, found that although employers are not dropping health insurance coverage, most are passing the higher costs on to their employees. Most workers pay a portion of their insurance premiums, which average $3,383 for single coverage and $9,068 for family coverage. The survey found that employees contribute about $508 per year for single coverage and $2,412 for family coverage, and most employees also have to pay a portion of health care services they use. Employers cited higher prescription drug spending and higher spending for hospital services as the main factor driving up premiums. The survey also reported that the availability of retiree benefits has fallen significantly over time: 38 percent of employers offered retiree coverage this year, unchanged from last year but down dramatically from the 66 percent who offered coverage in 1988. The full report is online at http://www.kff.org/content/2003/20030909a/.
 

CIVIL SERVICE JOBS SHRINK AS CONTRACTING SOARS
The federal government is open for private contractors--just look at the headcount. The ranks of civil service employees declined by almost 50,000 from 1999 to 2002. During that same period, 727,000 jobs were contracted out and another 330,000 jobs were generated by grants. In "Fact Sheet on the New True Size of Government," released Sept. 5, Paul C. Light of the Brookings Institution's Center for Public Service writes that "the true size of government has grown by 1.1 million jobs since 1999. Although military personnel and postal employment inched up during the period, almost all of the growth has occurred in two categories: contract and grant-generated jobs." The trend lines "strongly suggest that government is now growing, almost entirely in off-budget jobs that are invisible to the American public in federal budget and headcount documents," says Light. Steve Porter, director of the AFT Public Employees department, argues that the increase in contracting out "is not by accident," adding, "Privatization of public services is a political issue, and not an issue of practicality, cost-effectiveness and quality." Light's article is posted at http://www.brookings.edu/gs/cps/light20030905.htm.
 

SKILL STANDARDS FOR PARAPROFESSIONALS RELEASED
The Education and Training Voluntary Partnership has released "Skill Standards for Frontline Workers in Education and Training," outlining the responsibilities, tasks, knowledge and skills of frontline workers in education and training. The AFT was the lead organization in developing the standards, which cover paraprofessionals, paraeducators, teacher assistants, education assistants and child care workers. These standards can be used for establishing certification programs, designing professional development programs, writing job descriptions or developing assessments. This extensive research project involved more than 2,500 paraprofessionals and subject experts in intensive focus groups to define the components of the standards. Their release "is very timely as our locals and states work to establish meaningful programs to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements," notes AFT PSRP division director Tish Olshefski. The final document is posted at http://www.etvp.org/ALLFinalStandards.pdf.

WHERE AND WHEN  AFT president Sandra Feldman will be in New York City on Sept. 22 for the announcement of the winner of the 2003 Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual award honoring urban school districts for improvements in student achievement. The award funds scholarships for students in the winning districts to attend college or other postsecondary training. On Sept. 23, she will be at the Mayors' Education Summit in Washington, D.C., joining a panel on "Implementing No Child Left Behind: Where Do Mayors Fit?" She also will attend an AFT-sponsored reception for participants of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and take part in a meeting of the AFL-CIO international affairs committee. AFT executive vice president Nat LaCour will chair the AFT's organizing committee meeting in Washington, D.C., Sept. 22-24, and on Sept. 25-27 he will attend Congressional Black Caucus events in Washington, D.C.