CWA Local 1033
Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO
NJ CWAERS READY TO ELECT PHIL MURPHY FOR GOVERNOR
With less than 50 days until the November election, CWA members across New Jersey are pushing forward with phone banks and door-to-door canvassing in support of CWA’s union-endorsed candidate for New Jersey governor, Phil Murphy, ahead of the November 7th general election.
Over 500 shop stewards gathered for a one-day election kick-off event and reviewed mobilization plans for a massive get-out-the-vote effort to elect Phil Murphy in the gubernatorial election.
After eight disastrous years of Governor Chris Christie and an enormous amount of damage to the state, CWA members are supporting Phil Murphy because he will protect working families and defend strong public services.
“Phil Murphy is committed to making our state’s political and economic systems once again responsive to the needs of middle-class and working families,” CWA NJ State Director Hetty Rosenstein.
Stewards are talking to their co-workers, asking for commitments to vote in the November election, and signing up members at their worksite for door-knocking and phone bank shifts. CWAers will be knocking doors every Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm and working the phones during weeknights in phone banks.
To find out how to get involved in the election, contact us.
General Membership Meeting
Join us at the CWA Local 1033 Membership Meeting Thursday September 21, 2017 at the Trenton War Memorial.
Secretary’s report – July & August Executve Board Minutes & July Membership Minutes
Treasurer’s Report – August Financial Report / Approval of the FY 18 Budget
Breakdown of August 2nd Supreme Court Increments Decision
What you need to know about the State Health Benefits Plan in 2018
Status of Bargaining
Legislative Political Action Committee Report on November Elections, Election Phone Banking & Labor Walk Sign-Ups – Get Out The Vote
Dinner Served at 4:30pm
Meeting at 5:00pm
What you need to know about the State Health Benefits Plan in 2018
ATTENTION CWA State Health Benefits Plan Members:
UNION-LED EFFORTS RESULT IN NO INCREASE IN PREMIUM RATES
Because of the work of the union members on the State Health Benefits Plan Design Committee (SHBPDC), rates for all State Health Benefits plans will NOT go up for Plan Year 2018. This is the first time that healthcare costs have not increased since the passage of Chapter 78 and the cause of this savings was the unions, NOT the Christie Administration.
CWA members are represented on the Plan Design Committee by the 6 Union representatives, including 3 AFL-CIO Representatives: Hetty Rosenstein (CWA), Bob Little (AFSCME), and Patrick Nowlan (AFT/AAUP). The Union side of the PDC has created innovative approaches to healthcare that have saved money, but NOT at the expense of workers. Instead, the unions have created efficiencies and have changed the management of the prescription system, so that the State is not being gouged by the Pharmacy Benefits Manager.
In addition to the innovations that have kept premiums from rising, you may also be able to take advantage of union-developed programs to save a significant amount of money on healthcare. Here’s how:
BETTER CARE AT NO COST WITH DIRECT PRIMARY CARE
The Direct Primary Care Medical Home (DPCMH) pilot project is a concierge-like healthcare plan that was designed by CWA and the other unions’ representatives. The DPCMH is an add-on to any of the NJ Direct or tiered network plans, that you can join anytime during the year and that you can have AT NO CHARGE. If you select one of the pilot medical practices, where the doctors are being paid a SALARY, instead of being paid more based upon the more patients that they see, you will pay absolutely NO COPAYS no matter how many times you see the doctor. It provides:
- Unlimited access to a personal physician for members and their families.
- Same-day and next-day appointments
- Evening and weekend hours
- Longer appointments
- Little to no time in the waiting room
- Access to the doctor via cell phone, e-mail, and digital messaging
- On-site lab draws at no cost.
- On-site dispensing of a 7-day supply of medications for acute conditions at no additional cost to you
- On-site immunizations at no cost.
- Some practices provide complete family care for children and parents at the same office.
Two healthcare companies currently provide these services: R-Health and Paladina Health. There are R-Health practices in Cherry Hill, Voorhees, Ewing, Hamilton, Moorestown, Haddonfield and Washington Crossing. This fall, R-Health will open a practice in New Brunswick and additional practices are opening all of the time. If you would like to come to a presentation and meet with a doctor, sign up at: www.r-health.md/nj. Paladina Health has a brand new state-of-the-art office in Hamilton and will also open an office in Clifton this fall. If you would like information and find out about open houses, sign up here: https://www.paladinahealth.com/form/membership-info-SONJ-members
TIERED NETWORK INCENTIVES CONTINUE
Both Horizon and Aetna have designed specific tiered networks for the State Health Benefits Plan— Horizon OMNIA and Aetna LIBERTY. If you choose to go into either of these plans, your premium will drop by 25%. If you are a state employee (or a local government employee where the union has negotiated incentives), you will also receive an incentive rebate of $1000 for single coverage, $1500 for Parent-Child or Spouse coverage, and $2000 for Family Coverage. This incentive is paid by gift card within the first quarter of Plan Year 2018, and is deemed reportable income for tax purposes.
Before you switch plans to Omnia or Liberty, please research your doctors and hospitals carefully. You will save if you go to Tier 1 providers but you could pay more if you go to Tier 2 providers. You must use doctors and hospitals that are in the plans. If you use a Tier 1 doctor or hospital, you will have a $5 copay for a primary physician and a $15 copay for a specialist. If you use a Tier 2 doctor or hospital, you will have a deductible and 70% will be paid for. BUT— except for emergencies or if you are out of state— if you voluntarily go to a doctor or practice that isn’t in Tier 1 or 2 it won’t be covered.
You are okay if it is emergency services in or out of state – then it is treated as Tier 1.
If you have a doctor that you are very attached to, who is not a Tier 1 doctor and who does not use a Tier 1 hospital, CWA does not recommend that you switch to a tiered network plan. (But check – because if your doctor or hospital isn’t in Horizon’s Omnia, s/he or it may be in Aetna’s Liberty.)
If your doctor is in the Tiered Network, and if you can use Tier 1 doctors and hospitals, you will save a great deal of money. (Please note: the Tiered network charges $7 generic and $16 brand for prescription copays which may be slightly higher than your copays in a Direct plan.) You can check and see if your doctor(s)/ hospitals are in Aetna Liberty at aetna.com/docfind/custom/statenj and Horizon Omnia at doctorfinder.horizonblue.com.
To find out more about the Tiered Networks, go here: http://www.nj.gov/treasury/pensions/hb_open_enrollment_2016/sbc/sbc019.pdfand here: http://www.nj.gov/treasury/pensions/hb_open_enrollment_2016/sbc/sbc020.pdf
COMBINE DIRECT PRIMARY CARE WITH A TIERED NETWORK PLAN
THE SWEET SPOT— See if you can combine the DPCMH with a Tiered Network plan. EVERY primary care doctor who is in R-Health or Paladina practices is automatically a Tier 1 doctor in the Tiered Network plans. If you switch to the Tiered Network and combine it with the DPCMH, you would save 25% off of your premium, you would get the $1000 – $2000 incentive, and you would get CONCIERGE primary health care with no co-pays, no gate keeper, in office lab draws, no wait times, and a personal physician who you and your family can develop a relationship with.This incentive is paid by gift card within the first quarter of Plan Year 2017, and is deemed reportable income for tax purposes.
NJ WELLNESS
“I like my doctor and I want to stay in the Direct 15 plan. Is there anything that I can do to save money?”
Sign up for the NJ Wellness Plan – NJWELL – and you can earn up to $250 annually in incentives. By enrolling in NJWELL and participating in health assessments, screenings, flu shots, online coaching, and activities participants can earn points towards gift cards. Information on NJWELL can be found at: http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/njwell/
RECOMMENDATIONS
CWA has been on the cutting edge of trying to push back health care costs without cost-shifting. Chapter 78 has harmed our members, caused healthcare to be too expensive, and has encouraged cost-shifting instead of cost containment.
The Direct Primary Care Medical Home model of health care is a pilot project that has the potential to save hundreds of millions of dollars in healthcare cost while providing the best healthcare available. If this is something that works for your family, we recommend that you investigate it. The Tiered Network will only work for people who are willing to switch doctors or who, UPON REVIEW, see that their doctors are in the Tiered Network. The Networks are very large, and so it may be that this will work for you. CWA urges our members to consider these options.
A new Administration and a reasonable Governor will hopefully lead to a more reasonable cost sharing on healthcare– but if you can, you should consider reducing your costs with these union-negotiated plans.
CWA Fights Health Care Cuts, Wins Savings in New Jersey
After a year of work and advocacy by CWA and other public sector union representatives on New Jersey’s State Health Benefits Design Committee, nearly 40,000 CWA public workers will see no increase in health care costs in 2018 due to union-led efforts netting savings for members and taxpayers.
This is the first time that health care costs have not increased for CWA members since Governor Christie signed the sweeping pension and health benefits overhaul in 2011 which shifted costs for coverage to workers and eliminated the right for public sector workers to collectively bargain healthcare.
Instead, Christie’s overhaul then tasked the State Health Benefits Design Committee made up of six Christie appointees and six union representatives the authority to create and modify state-administered health care plans.
CWA has been on the cutting edge of trying to push back public worker health care cuts with innovative approaches to healthcare that save money, but not at the expense of workers. In 2016, CWA and other public sector union representatives brought forward a proposal to change the management of the prescription system, so that the State is not being over-billed by the Pharmacy Benefits Manager. The state initially resisted the proposed change, but the unions persisted and finally won state cooperation by demonstrating that New Jersey had the opportunity to save over $1 billion dollars without any changes to worker health care benefits.
“The Saving did not come easy. The state was initially resistant to changing its long-standing bidding practices. It took over a year for the union representatives on the design committee to convince their state-appointee counterparts to look into this progressive, but common sense way of achieving vast savings.” NJ Area Director Hetty Rosenstein.
Our union is proud of what it accomplished in this process and looks forward to identifying more ways to control costs in the future.
CWA Local 1033 Certification of Candidates
Certification of Candidates list for CWA Local 1033 2017 election, Election Schedule and Election Procedures
INCREMENTS UPDATE: GOVERNOR CHRISTIE TRIES TO STALL
ON AUGUST 2, THE SUPREME COURT RULED THAT INCREMENTS CANNOT BE UNILATERALLY STOPPED AND THAT INCREMENT CASES ARE GRIEVABLE AND ARBITRABLE.
GOVERNOR CHRISTIE TRIES TO STALL
On August 2, the Supreme Court issued its decision on the “increments” cases in Atlantic County and Bridgewater. In these cases, the employers denied increments after expiration. The State of New Jersey, Judiciary, and other employers have relied upon the decision of the Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) to deny payments of our increments.
The Appellate Court overturned PERC, and the employers appealed to the Supreme Court. PERC, Atlantic County, Bridgewater and the Christie Administration LOST. The Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY AFFIRMED the Appellate Court’s judgment in Atlantic and Bridgewater and the Court specifically ruled that the denial of increments is grievable and can be arbitrated. (CWA’s attorney explained this in detail on a Town Hall call. If you did not join the call, you can listen to the full explanation here: http://cwanj.org/listen-increment-decision-tele-town-hall/)
Once the Court made its decision, CWA moved for our grievances on increments to be moved to arbitration. One of our grievances is against the State Judiciary’s denial of increments for the PNCR Judiciary unit (Judiciary units that are part of the JCAU have a third grievance on the issue that is moving through its contractual process) and one of our grievances is against the Executive Branch’s (Christie’s) denial of increments. The Judiciary — the Department headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court — immediately agreed to schedule the arbitration case and the arbitration hearing took place on August 24, 2017. Now the parties will file briefs and there is likely to be a decision sometime in November.
But – in the case of the Executive Branch – before we could even write to the Governor demanding our increments be paid, Governor Christie wrote to PERC and demanded that the same Agency that just LOST the Supreme Court Case, “scope” the Executive Branch grievance and find it to not be arbitrable – even though the Supreme Court already ruled these cases to be grievable and arbitrable.
CWA has demanded that the Executive Branch case be arbitrated. We will take all necessary actions to force the legal case forward. When we win, increments will be retroactively paid, as required under the Contract and by law.
We all know what this Governor is like. He will be walking out the door on January 9 and still thinking up ways to screw workers and the public.
We do not believe that this matter will be resolved before the end of Christie’s term. We think that the mean-spirited and arrogant Christie is stalling to try to save face and to try to leave more of his mess in the lap of the next Governor.
At the end of the day, however, he will be gone, we will be here, we will get our increments and we will get a Contract that protects our language and our rights and that is better than it would have been had we caved.
Thank you for your continued patience and support.
CWA STRONG.
Victory! Sept. 1st pay day due to shutdown
Below is information from the State regarding payment for the state shutdown on July 1, 2, and 3:
- Pay for the shutdown furlough will be issued in a supplemental check on payroll date R, which is September 1. Taxes will be deducted as normal, but other deductions (healthcare, pension, union dues) were already charged in the prior 9-day pay covering the shutdown period.
- Overtime will be recalculated for the period of the shutdown for eligible employees.
- Non-essential employees who were placed in no-pay status during the shutdown will be paid for the furlough time. This will be paid by the state, not charged to benefit time.
- Employees who would have been on FMLA, State Family Leave and/or unpaid leave of absence even if the State had not shut down, including unpaid voluntary furloughs, will have time sheet adjusted accordingly to reflect that leave.
0% Increase in SHBP Rates for 1/1/18 for Actives; Retiree Rates FALL; New PBM 1/1/18
0% Increase in SHBP Rates for 1/1/18 for Actives; Retiree Rates FALL; New PBM 1/1/18
No Change in Rates for Active Members; Retiree Rates Go Down
Effective January 1, 2018 there will be no increase in premiums for any active state or local government workers that are in the State Health Benefit Plan.
Premium rates for local government early retirees will go down by 2.3%; rates for local government Medicare retirees will go down 6.2%.
Premium rates for state early retirees will fall 4.4% and the rates for Medicare retirees go down 6.3%.
One Small Plan Design Change for 2018
Active local and state workers will see no change in plan design. The only plan design change for 2018 is that the retiree prescription drug copay for mail order brand drugs will fall from $33 to 28.
Incentives for Choosing a Tiered Network Plan Continue
The incentive program for those newly choosing a tiered network plan (Aetna Liberty or Horizon Omnia) will continue for plan year 2018. New employees and employees changing coverage due to a life event will now be able to participate in the incentive program.
The incentives vary depending on level of coverage: Single-coverage employees receive $1,000; Member/Spouse or Parent/Child-covered employees receive $1,250; and Family-covered employees receive $2,000. This incentive is paid by gift card within the first quarter of Plan Year 2017, and is deemed reportable income for tax purposes.
New Prescription Drug Manager
Effective 1/1/18 OptumRx will replace Express Scripts as the vendor operating the SHBP prescription drug program.
The new vendor was chosen through a reverse on-line auction – a union initiative developed by CWA, AFT, and NJEA with the help of the national union-based health coalition, America’s Agenda.
We anticipated the reverse on-line auction would produce overall drug savings of 8 to 10% but it looks like the savings will be closer to 12%. It’s a major factor in the lack of rate increases for active employees and fall in rates for retirees.
It’s estimated that about ten percent of drugs currently on the Express Scripts formulary will not be on the OPTUM formularies.
We will be meeting in the near future with OPTUMRx to ensure a smooth transition.
State Surpluses Mean State Members Pay Too Much
The active state worker part of SHBP saw large surpluses of $121 million in 2016 and $101 million projected for 2017. The surpluses were because claims were 5 to 8% less than projected by Aon.
Normally surpluses are good news but in this case it means 91,000 state workers probably paid $40 to $50 million more in premium share than they needed to over the two year period.
That’s because once premiums are set for the year that determines the amount members pay in premium share but it does not determine the amount the state pays. The states simply pays for the amount of claims and other expenses not covered by our members premium share.
When there are surpluses in the state plan, it means members pay more than they need to because the premiums have been set too high but the state pays less.
Stay tuned, the Union side of the Plan Design Committee will be pursuing this issue further.
Important update regarding increment decision
Today, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Appellate Court’s judgment in the Atlantic and Bridgewater cases. The Court ruled that the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), Atlantic County, and Bridgewater overstepped in unilaterally denying workers in Atlantic and Bridgewater their salary increments after Contract expiration.
The Christie Administration used the Atlantic and Bridgewater cases to deny State Workers their increments, despite the more than 40 years of precedent, past practice and custom of continuing increments.
We hope that the Administration and all New Jersey public employers will now restore the increments and follow a law that has existed since 1975. However, if they do not, (and we expect that the Christie Administration will not immediately pay the increments) today’s decision makes clear we have the legal tools to restore the increments, including a grievance that we filed and that has been held pending this decision.
Below you will find a more detailed analysis of the Supreme Court decision and notice of a Town Hall Call that will take place on Monday, August 7, 2017 at 7 p.m. We will provide a full legal analysis and explanation of next steps on that call.
In Solidarity,
Hetty Rosenstein
CWA NJ Director
P.S. As you know, the Governor signed the back pay legislation and we will be paid. We are awaiting a date for payment from Centralized Payroll. We will get that information to you as soon as we have it.
SUPREME COURT RULES THAT INCREMENTS CANNOT BE UNILATERALLY STOPPED
Today, the Supreme Court issued its decision on the “increments” cases in Atlantic County and Bridgewater. In these cases, the employers denied increments after expiration. The State of New Jersey, Judiciary and other employers have relied upon PERC’s decisions to deny payments of our increments. The Appellate Court overturned PERC, and the employers appealed to the Supreme Court. PERC, Atlantic County, Bridgewater and the Christie Administration LOST.
The Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY AFFIRMED the Appellate Court’s judgment in Atlantic and Bridgewater. The Court ruled that the denial of increments is grievable and can be arbitrated. This is very good. It is not perfect, however, because the Court felt it didn’t need to rule on every issue and we may find that the Christie Administration will still try to withhold increments. If that happens, we will have to use this decision and the Appellate Division decision to further challenge the withholding of increments.
Please carefully read the explanation below.
The Appellate Court overturned PERC’s decision eliminating increments post expiration in Atlantic and Bridgewater. (The State of New Jersey relied upon PERC’s decision to not pay our increments.)
The Court said that increments are a mandatory subject of negotiations and parties can agree to have them continue, or sunset, after contract expiration.
If the employer denies salary increments- it is grievable and arbitrable. CWA filed grievances on this when increments were first denied. The grievances were held in abeyance waiting the Supreme Court decision.
The Appellate Division held that increments must continue as part of the “dynamic status quo” even where the contract does not specifically address whether they are paid after expiration. The Supreme Court affirms that increments must be paid if the contract explicitly states this or if it states that all terms and conditions of employment continue. The Court chose to not specifically address what happens if the contract language is not specific, but did not overturn the analysis of the Appellate Division. The Supreme Court’s decision not to reach that question just means that it reserves the right to consider the issue in another case. In the meantime, the highest court decision addressing a public employer’s obligation to pay automatic increments, says that the increments must be paid.
We have a very clear history that our increments are automatic. We have refused language last Contract that would have required that increments “sunset.” We have also rejected the language accepted by other unions that increments are “frozen” after expiration. The language that we have was found to meet the conditions of an automatic increment system that must be continued under the dynamic status quo doctrine. In other words, we have good language and both the “past practices” and “custom” that the Supreme Court said would guide any future decisions.
What does this mean? It means that the Supreme Court overturned the PERC decision that the State relied upon to deny us increments and to block arbitration our grievance. With this Administration, we have learned to expect the worst and they may continue to delay or refuse to pay us our negotiated increments. We may not be paid immediately based on this decision because of the issues left unaddressed. However, the decision gives us a good foundation for our contractual challenge and we are exploring other options as well.
We will hold a Town Hall Call with all of our members on
MONDAY, AUGUST 7 at 7:00PM.
TEXT the word STEPS to the phone number 69866
using your cell phone to be added to the call.
On Monday, CWA will call you directly as the Town Hall starts— just pick up the phone to listen in.
You can also join the call on Monday by dialing 855-269-4484 by 6:55pm.
In addition, the Bargaining Committee and the Mobilization Committee are meeting this week to discuss next steps with Contract negotiations and mobilization.
CWA New Jersey
102 South Warren St.
Trenton, NJ 08608
cwanj.org
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