|

Lab Retirees Want Back In on UC Health Plan

Byuclafaculty

There has always been a question about exactly what is the legal obligation of UC to pay for retiree health care.  The position of the university has been that unlike the pension, there is no obligation.  Nothing was really promised for sure.  It’s just a nice thing UC does.

Employees of one of the former nuclear labs, once operated exclusively by UC but now administered under a consortium including UC, have been litigating over being cut off from UC retiree health as a result of the administrative transition.  See below: T

Two years ago… the California Supreme Court confirmed that an implicit contract may exist requiring a public agency to continue providing benefits to its retirees even when there is no written document promising the benefits. The existence and validity of an implicit contract is a key contention of the retirees’ case. More recently, an Appeals Court overruled a decision by Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch dismissing the retirees’ suit as requested by the University.
 Marty Crowningshield, who retired in 1999 after 31 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has taken over as president of the group after its original leader, Joe Requa, stepped down for health reasons…  Under new leadership, the UC Livermore Laboratory Retirees Group will continue its legal action aimed at forcing the University of California to restore retirees to UC health care programs. Current legal activity includes an effort to change the suit to class action, which requires court permission and acceptance of a new group of plaintiffs. The change was agreed to by more than 90 percent of Retirees Group members in a survey and approved by its legal defense panel. If accepted by the court, the change could put more pressure on the University because of the possibility of greater damages…

Full article at http://www.independentnews.com/news/article_37cefc02-5dd1-11e3-8567-0019bb2963f4.html

There are obvious potential implications of the lawsuit for all retirees and employees of UC.  But in the meantime, the lab retirees are saying they want back in:

Similar Posts

| | |

Faculty associations address UCOP

Byhigbie

The UCLA Faculty Association is part of a UC-wide coalition of faculty associations known as CUCFA–the Coalition of UC Faculty Associations. Through CUCFA, UC faculty are able to address the UC Office of the President on issues of importance to faculty, their students, and staff. Below is a round-up of recent communication between CUCFA and UCOP. UC Union Coalition on Health Insurance Costs CUCFA signed on to a joint letter from unions representing employees across the UC system expressing concern with large increases in the cost of health insurance. The unions requested a meeting to “address what appears to be…

| |

UCOP Response to CUCFA on Health Options

Byhigbie

In April, the Council of UC Faculty Associations drafted a letter of concern over proposed changes to UC employee health insurance options. Over 2,500 faculty system-wide added their names in support of these concerns. Now we have a response from the UC Office of the President (UCOP): Subject: Health care options letter Date: Wed, 6 May 2015 23:40:06 +0000 From: President at UCOP dot edu To: info at cucfa dot org Dear Professor Hays: Thank you for sharing the Council of UC Faculty Associations’ letter of April 7 to President Napolitano regarding the possible restructuring of healthcare plans available to…

| | | |

UCOP Study Shows Decline in Faculty Compensation

Byhigbie

A year ago Colleen Lye and James Vernon, co-chairs of the Berkeley Faculty Association, drew the attention of faculty across the ten campuses of the University of California to the continuing degradation of their pensions, benefits and salaries. Increasing employee contributions to health insurance and pensions were compounding the negative impact of slow salary group, they argued, and retirees faced fewer choices for healthcare. Now UCOP’s own study of total remuneration has confirmed much of their argument. The executive summary of this document contains the following depressing bullet points: Between 2009 and 2014, UC’s total remuneration fell from 2% below…

| | |

The Degradation of Faculty Welfare and Compensation

Byuclafaculty

Colleen Lye and James Vernon (UC Berkeley Faculty Association) UC faculty need to wake up to the systematic degradation of their pay and benefits.  In 2009, when the salary furlough temporarily cut faculty salaries between 6 and 10%, faculty were outraged.  Yet since then our compensation has been hit by a more serious, and seemingly permanent, double blow. First, despite modest salary rises of 3% and 2% in October 2011 and July 2013, faculty take-home pay has been effectively cut as employee contributions to pension and healthcare have escalated.  Faculty now pay more for retirement and healthcare programs that offer less.  Secondly, faculty are…

|

CalPERS Long-Term Care: What Happens Tomorrow?

Byuclafaculty

Although CalPERS doesn’t run the UC retirement plan, at one point CalPERS offered long-term care insurance to UC employees.  It seemed to some folks to be a good idea at the time and they took out policies.  Long-term care policies can be bought from commercial carriers.  The problem is that you have to trust that these carriers will do right by you many years in the future when you may not be in the best condition to assert your rights.  It appeared, however, that having CalPERS – a public entity – providing the policies might be a solution.  Sadly, there…

| |

UC Follows UCLA and Becomes a No-Smoking Zone Today

Byuclafaculty

Following the earlier lead of UCLA, all UC campuses today become smoke-free zones, including such products as e-cigarettes.  According to a UC media release: …Effective Jan. 1, 2014, the University of California will be entirely smoke and tobacco free. Smoking and the use of all tobacco products including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, snuff, water pipes, pipes, hookahs, chew and any other non-combustible tobacco product will be prohibited across all campuses and facilities, including inside buildings, outdoor areas and sidewalks, parking lots, and residential housing areas. This is a major change for many people and will require all members of the university…