Folks, the faculty would gladly sign a contract for 15% of the medical premium, and in fact did support such a contract under the fact-finder. What the faculty will not accept is a contract that allows the administration to profit from a hiked medical premium due to vague language. Faculty have voted to take a sacrifice, but to see financial overages that were supposed to go towards their medical care end up as a cost-of-living raise for some upper-level administrator would be a bitter pill that none of you would want to swallow. We all need to stop bashing the faculty at YSU- their efforts have made the University one of the bright points of Youngstown.
To Guin96, The faculty has agreed to pay a percentage of the healthcare premium, and this is not the healthcare plan that they already had, but a less expensive plan with less coverage. But because YSU is self-insured, they are allowed to come up with the cost of the premium. Since YSU has been incredibly deceptive about the financial status of the University (first they were 9 million in debt, then it was 7 million in debt, and the fact-finder declared them to be 1.6 million in debt), there is little trust that the administration will only have faculty pay the real cost of the premium. This, combined with their unwillingness to project an estimate, or to refund any overage, makes faculty aware that they intend to profit from the vague language in the contract. Faculty has voted to pay up to 15% of their helath insurance- all they ask for is that their money goes to fund the health care premium, and not whatever YSU administrators choose to spend it on.
To Guin96- Of course YSU does not know exactly how much their premiums will be. But they know APPROXIMATELY what they will be, just as we know approximately how much our car insurance is. The union has asked YSU to estimate premiums by using the actual cost from the last two years and adding a few percent for inflation, and YSU refused. The union also asked YSU to rebate any overage paid by faculty on estimated premiums, and YSU again refused. Furthermore, the fact-finder determined that YSU has a financially healthy medical pad and does not need any additional emergency coverage. Face it, this is no longer about paying for health care premiums. This is about forcing faculty to sign a blank check for premiums so YSU can profit at the expense of the workers. I challenge you to find anyone who is eager to sign an 'agreement' such as this.
Turn down additional duties, YSU faculty told
Folks, the faculty would gladly sign a contract for 15% of the medical premium, and in fact did support such a contract under the fact-finder. What the faculty will not accept is a contract that allows the administration to profit from a hiked medical premium due to vague language. Faculty have voted to take a sacrifice, but to see financial overages that were supposed to go towards their medical care end up as a cost-of-living raise for some upper-level administrator would be a bitter pill that none of you would want to swallow. We all need to stop bashing the faculty at YSU- their efforts have made the University one of the bright points of Youngstown.
September 16, 2011 at 9:43 p.m. permalink suggest removal
Talks fail to yield accord at YSU
To Guin96, The faculty has agreed to pay a percentage of the healthcare premium, and this is not the healthcare plan that they already had, but a less expensive plan with less coverage. But because YSU is self-insured, they are allowed to come up with the cost of the premium. Since YSU has been incredibly deceptive about the financial status of the University (first they were 9 million in debt, then it was 7 million in debt, and the fact-finder declared them to be 1.6 million in debt), there is little trust that the administration will only have faculty pay the real cost of the premium. This, combined with their unwillingness to project an estimate, or to refund any overage, makes faculty aware that they intend to profit from the vague language in the contract. Faculty has voted to pay up to 15% of their helath insurance- all they ask for is that their money goes to fund the health care premium, and not whatever YSU administrators choose to spend it on.
September 10, 2011 at 8:47 p.m. permalink suggest removal
Talks fail to yield accord at YSU
To Guin96- Of course YSU does not know exactly how much their premiums will be. But they know APPROXIMATELY what they will be, just as we know approximately how much our car insurance is. The union has asked YSU to estimate premiums by using the actual cost from the last two years and adding a few percent for inflation, and YSU refused. The union also asked YSU to rebate any overage paid by faculty on estimated premiums, and YSU again refused. Furthermore, the fact-finder determined that YSU has a financially healthy medical pad and does not need any additional emergency coverage. Face it, this is no longer about paying for health care premiums. This is about forcing faculty to sign a blank check for premiums so YSU can profit at the expense of the workers. I challenge you to find anyone who is eager to sign an 'agreement' such as this.
September 10, 2011 at 1:08 p.m. permalink suggest removal