December 5, 2013
The Coalition of County Unions -- CCU - leaders announced a tentative agreement on a new Fringe Benefit Contract with County management on December 5, 2013. The new agreement arrives after months of stalled negotiations that followed the County's eleventh hour demand for changes to County Retiree Health benefits for future employees.
CAPE and CCU leaders set the following major goals early in the fringe benefits negotiations process: 1) to protect the existing benefits package, 2) to protect employees from increases in out-of-pocket payments for medical premiums, and 3) to eliminate the current $112 million cap on County matching contributions to the Horizons program so that employees will receive their full 4% employer match for the entire plan year. Under the new agreement, all of these goals were achieved!
Highlights of New Fringe Benefits Contract Agreement:
• TERM - 2 years (October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2015).
• CHOICES - The new agreement provides a 7.2% increase in the County's CHOICES contribution for 2014 and an additional 7.2% increase for 2015. Securing the increases in the CHOICES contribution means that most members will take home extra in their paychecks in 2014-2015. Had this agreement not been secured, CAPE members stood to pay significant out-of-pocket increases to cover their rising health care premiums.
• HORIZONS - Matching Fund Cap increased and then eliminated: The new agreement provides an additional $9 million annual increase to the cap on County matching contributions. The cap will increase from the current $112 million to $121 million for FY 2013-2014 and to $130 million for FY 2014-2015. This means that all participating employees should receive their full 4% match on their contributions for the entire year starting in 2015. The major victory for our side is that the cap will be eliminated entirely effective July 1, 2015.
• $500 CASH BONUS - The new agreement includes a one-time $500 per employee contribution to CHOICES whereby all CHOICES participants will receive a $250 payment scheduled for January 2014 and again in July 2014.
Among other improvements the CCU was proposing in fringe benefits, the County refused our requests to increase the current Vacation benefit beyond 4 weeks after 13 years of service, to increase the amount of the Bilingual Bonus, to enhance Bereavement Leave, and to add an additional County Holiday for Cesar Chavez's Birthday on March 31st.
The new Fringe Benefits Contract tentative agreement described above was only made possible due to all County Unions' forging of a separate and very complex tentative agreement regarding Retiree Health Reforms that, among other things, would change the benchmark retiree health contribution for New Hires effective July 2014. Retiree Health benefits for current employees will remain unchanged.
Labor and County officials have committed to jointly advocate for the tentatively agreed on Retiree Health Reforms to LACERA, including supporting any legislation that may be necessary to effect the changes. If LACERA fails to adopt the jointly recommended changes to Retiree Health Care, the Choices and Horizons articles of the Fringe Benefits Contract would be subject to re-opener negotiations.
More information regarding the Fringe Benefits Contract tentative agreement and the status of the Retiree Health Reforms will be available soon. Please visit the CAPE website at www.CAPEunion.org to check for future updates.