What is the status of the health insurance bill? I remain very concerned that this will be done in a way that allows municipalities to make unilateral changes in negotiated labor agreements — I gather that such a power is in fact a provision of the Senate bill, but NOT of the House bill.
Pensions & Benefits
benefit improvements, disability reform, early retirement incentives, long term perspective, municipal health insurance, opeb reform, pension reform, public/private comparisons
Update: Early Retirement Incentive For Teachers
In response to a proposal initially made by the Arlington teachers’ union, and after considerable consultation with many affected parties and experts, the members of the Arlington legislative delegation (Senator Donnelly, Reps. Garballey and Kauffman and myself) have developed and committed to support the amendment appearing below to the municipal relief bill. It will be …
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Municipal health insurance update
Groups from diverse perspectives — the Boston Foundation, Stand for Children, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation — are pushing for change in municipal health insurance. I think that the legislature is really beginning to focus on making something happen and I am starting to be hopeful that we’ll have a bill this spring.
An historical perspective on Lawrence
I have some experience with Lawrence. In the early 90’s, I helped create and run the annual Bread and Roses Festival, which celebrates Lawrence’s labor history. A few years ago, I taught in Lawrence for a year. Several points. Lawrence is an immigrant and mill city with a tough history. Historically, its low-wage mill jobs …
Municipal Health Costs and Teachers’ Unions
I am responding to some comments I have seen here and also thinking about today’s Globe editorial on this topic. As a teacher and committed union member I think the recent spate of comments about teacher unions are WAY off as a generalization. I do not dispute that some unions are stubborn about health costs …
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Opposed to Lawrence support bill
Hi Will, Thx for your request for comment. Having spent 6 years in public office locally, I believe this bill is unlikely to be in our best interests as a Commonwealth. Since town and city govt’s are essentially at an impasse with organized labor, most notably teacher unions, the bill only postpones the inevitable. As …