BELCHERTOWN — Members of the Belchertown Education Association and Western Mass Educator Action Network flooded into a Select Board meeting Monday night to oppose the adoption of state legislation that would affect health insurance negotiations at the local level.
Nick O’Connor, chairman of the Select Board, said that there was “a lot of good discussion” on the law at the meeting, but two Select Board members were not comfortable making a decision at the time, leading to the vote being tabled until a Feb. 19 special meeting.
School and town employee copay costs are set to increase regardless of the legislation due to a vote by the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust, but the way the mitigation of those increases is handled would be negotiated in a new way if the legislation is passed.
“If these rates don’t go up, in effect we would have to find about $450,000 in the first year to offset the increases, and those would come in cost to services in departments in town,” O’Connor said.
The town currently negotiates with all of its bargaining units individually, while accepting the legislation would bring all units together into a Public Employee Committee for bargaining purposes.
Lawrence O’Brien, a teacher at Belchertown High School and president of the Belchertown Education Association, attended the meeting with members of his organization in opposition of the proposed changes.
O’Brien said that while no one wants to pay higher health care fees and deductibles, he is most concerned about lower-paid personnel units within his organization. In addition to teachers, the Belchertown Education Association represents all school workers.
“This will really hit under-compensated educational support personnel,” he said.
O’Brien is also concerned that while the town will receive some savings, workers will suffer. Towns need to give 25 percent of savings back to workers harmed by the increases during the first year of savings, O’Brien said, but added that these mitigation funds “don’t really make up for the greater costs,” and are not mandated after the first year.
Nelly Taylor, president of the Easthampton Education Committee, said that the legislation also “reduces traditional collective bargaining to a 30-day timeline, which is unreasonable.”
Easthampton has also recently deliberated adopting the state legislation. While Easthampton Mayor Nicole Lachapelle asked the City Council to pass the law, it was sent to the council’s finance committee, which will give its own recommendation.
Meantime, the legislation has already been adopted in South Hadley.
Even with copay increases, O’Connor, Belchertown’s Select Board chairman, said that the plan offers “far and away the best coverage and best plan economically for subscribers,” adding that premiums will not increase and copays have not risen for 20 years.
“Looking at the larger picture, all taxpayers in town, all residents in town… It’s my opinion that enacting this (legislation) allows us to get everyone at the table at one time to discuss this with all bargaining units,” O’Connor said.
“That said, I’m open to the discussion,” he added. “I have not made up my mind, but those are my overall general thoughts.”
Belchertown School Committee Chairman Michael Knapp said that while he is not directly affected by the legislation, he recognizes that adopting the law would impose “real changes to the employees, but it’s a good health plan.”
“The issue really comes down to health insurance is really expensive,” Knapp said, “and the town is trying to find ways to avoid it.”
O’Brien said he understands that health insurance costs are stressful to town budgets, but maintained that that current Chapter 150E bargaining rights are the more effective solution.
“The Belchertown Education Association is interested in working with town officials to collectively bargain these fees and copays without going through 21 and 22,” O’Brien said.
“We can do bargaining with town officials, you have teachers unions, the police union, the fire, EMS union, the DPW union can sit down and collectively bargain these rates without having to take these unilateral actions that suspend collective bargaining,” he continued.
The Select Board has been discussing the legislation for the past year, according to O’Connor, but it needs to make a decision before May 1.
O’Connor said that the teachers “will be represented and have a voice at the unit, albeit collectively… with other bargaining units.”
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.