Bargaining for Second Statewide Healthcare Package Begins
May, 2021
Your healthcare bargaining team and the Vermont School Boards Association team are back at the table again to negotiate our second statewide healthcare agreement that will take effect on January 1, 2023. As you may recall, we were unable to reach a negotiated settlement with the VSBA team during the first round despite months of bargaining. The law governing the statewide healthcare bargaining process then left it to a neutral arbitrator to choose between proposals. The neutral arbitrator chose our package, deeming it fairer and more equitable. This was a win for us, but there is plenty for us to build on as we try and reach a negotiated settlement in this round of bargaining.
To that end, both sides last week held the first of three sessions with a facilitator. These meetings – two more are scheduled for May 6 and May 12 – are designed to help each side identify our priorities and mutual interests as well as clarify points of division, explore paths to a resolution and improve the overall negotiations process.
Our core principles include reaching an agreement on a healthcare plan that features:
Affordable access for all employees to high-quality, comprehensive healthcare, recognizing the cost and equity barriers faced by low-income school employees, most of whom are women.
Fairness in cost sharing between school districts and employees, both for premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
Simplicity of benefit administration for VEHI plans, Health Reimbursement Arrangements and Flexible Spending Accounts.
Effective and timely education about VEHI plan choices.
Sadly, the VSBA team’s position hasn’t fundamentally changed since our first round of negotiations. They believe that all school employees should pay more in monthly premiums and pay higher out-of-pocket costs.
To this end, we encourage you to add your name to our petition to the VSBA’s Board of Directors imploring them to work for a fair and equitable healthcare plan. At a time when the pandemic has demonstrated the vital importance of affordable and accessible healthcare, and the human costs of health inequities, the bargainers for the Vermont School Boards Association must be ready to work with us in good faith to reduce barriers to healthcare access for Vermont’s dedicated school employees. Please click here to add your name.
We also want you to be aware that next week we will begin conducting a household healthcare survey. This survey, conducted by a professional research firm, seeks to gather information that will be used by the bargaining team as they prepare to exchange economic proposals with the VSBA team. This survey will collect different data than that produced by our earlier, in-house healthcare survey.
Lastly, if the pandemic has taught us anything about healthcare, it is that we all need to fight for systemic reforms to ensure that healthcare is more affordable and accessible to all Vermonters. And that starts with achieving a fair and equitable package for school employees.
We will next update you after our May 12 meeting; in the meantime, keep up-to-date and learn more about healthcare bargaining by visiting www.vthealthbargainingteam.org.