IAFF 2446 - Palm Bay, FL

NEWS ARCHIVES

DECEMBER 2007
PENSION ISSUE RESOLVED
Updated as of 12-13-07
After a week of lobbying City Council and working with City leaders, the Union and City came to a mutual agreement ending the Unfair Labor Practice charge and related grievance over our $458 monthly supplemental retirement benefit. The benefit went before the city council at its regular meeting on December 6 and will go before them for final reading at the December 20 meeting. Labor attorneys for both sides feel that this is the best resolve we can get at the present time. The agreement removes the language from the city ordinance that directly states the benefit will be reduced or removed should state funds be reduced or stopped. That was the basis of the union’s argument. The language has been replaced to simply state that the benefit will be funded from state chapter 175 funds. It is not the language that we would have preferred, and its not the language the city would prefer however it was a great mid point. We are happy to state the pension issue is now over, our current retirees will begin to see the added benefit at the beginning of 2008, retro back to the October 2006.

Update to Health Insurance
Updated as of 12-20-07
The four union leaders met with the City Manager on December 20 to discuss the expenses from the Health Insurance Fund. First, we were educated into the fact that the name of the fund is not the Health Insurance Fund. It is an Employee Benefits Fund and its intention is more than just to pay Health Insurance Claims. All of the expenses shown from the fund are justified. In the case of the Pension Benefit provided to the Police, that was an approved loan for over $900,000 and it will be repaid back to our fund in January 2008. With this cleared up, we were able to discuss the future of the Health Insurance program. The clinic is scheduled to open on February 1, 2008 on Malabar Road. The Union’s and City will meet again on January 8 for a two-part meeting. Part 1 will be to review a variety of Health Insurance options and benefits for enrollment year starting March 2008, and along with these options will be a variety of optional premium increases. We are trying to keep the increases to an affordable level while keeping your benefits at the current levels. Members should expect to see some type of Health Insurance premium increase for 2008 or a decrease of some type in the benefit level. Part 2 of the meeting will deal with the clinic and its staffing, operations, and hours of service. There will be no further updates to this issue until after the January 8 meeting.


NEWS	NEWS ARCHIVES DECEMBER 2007 PENSION ISSUE RESOLVED Updated as of 12-13-07 After a week of lobbying City Council and working with City leaders, the Union and City came to a mutual agreement ending the Unfair Labor Practice charge and related grievance over our $458 monthly supplemental retirement benefit. The benefit went before the city council at its regular meeting on December 6 and will go before them for final reading at the December 20 meeting. Labor attorneys for both sides feel that this is the best resolve we can get at the present time. The agreement removes the language from the city ordinance that directly states the benefit will be reduced or removed should state funds be reduced or stopped. That was the basis of the union’s argument. The language has been replaced to simply state that the benefit will be funded from state chapter 175 funds. It is not the language that we would have preferred, and its not the language the city would prefer however it was a great mid point. We are happy to state the pension issue is now over, our current retirees will begin to see the added benefit at the beginning of 2008, retro back to the October 2006. Update to Health Insurance Updated as of 12-20-07 The four union leaders met with the City Manager on December 20 to discuss the expenses from the Health Insurance Fund. First, we were educated into the fact that the name of the fund is not the Health Insurance Fund. It is an Employee Benefits Fund and its intention is more than just to pay Health Insurance Claims. All of the expenses shown from the fund are justified. In the case of the Pension Benefit provided to the Police, that was an approved loan for over $900,000 and it will be repaid back to our fund in January 2008. With this cleared up, we were able to discuss the future of the Health Insurance program. The clinic is scheduled to open on February 1, 2008 on Malabar Road. The Union’s and City will meet again on January 8 for a two-part meeting. Part 1 will be to review a variety of Health Insurance options and benefits for enrollment year starting March 2008, and along with these options will be a variety of optional premium increases. We are trying to keep the increases to an affordable level while keeping your benefits at the current levels. Members should expect to see some type of Health Insurance premium increase for 2008 or a decrease of some type in the benefit level. Part 2 of the meeting will deal with the clinic and its staffing, operations, and hours of service. There will be no further updates to this issue until after the January 8 meeting.
Web Site Last Updated: February 13, 2008