New contract with Dayton union forces change in health care plans

The city of Dayton has approved a contract with its largest union that provides pay raises but requires working spouses of union members to use their employer-provided health care.

City officials said health insurance changes in the contract will hold down spiraling medical costs, and they hope the city’s other unions will agree to the same policies.

“I think the cost of living increases that we are going to provide over the next three years is what we gave the employees in exchange for them giving us what we needed on health insurance,” said Ken Couch, the city’s human resource director.

Earlier this week, Dayton commissioners approved a three-year contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Ohio Council 8 Local 101.

The union represents almost 800 city employees in a wide variety of departments. The last collective bargaining agreement expired in October.

The new contract will provide union members with a 3 percent raise in 2015 and a 2 percent raise in 2016 and 2017.

In the union’s last contract, workers received a 2 percent raise the first year, no raise the next and a 1 percent raise the third year.

“There was give and take, and an agreement was reached,” said Marcia Knox, regional director for AFSCME Ohio Council 8.

About 85 percent of union members approved the new contract, she said.

The city agreed to the new pay increases because the union accepted significant changes to members’ health care coverage, officials said. The city operates a self-funded health insurance plan through Anthem.

“We are trying to control future increases in our health insurance costs,” said Couch. “We’re trying to stabilize the growth rate in health insurance.”

Single-plan premiums will stay the same at $70 per month, but the premium family plan will go up $20 to $200, officials said.

Workers who visit the emergency room, have met their deductible and are not admitted must pay a $200 co-pay, said Couch. This will encourage employees to visit primary care physicians.

Starting next year, employees also will be required to cover a $10 office co-pay after they meet their deductible. The year after that, the co-pay will increase to $20.

The big cost savings will take effect starting in January 2016, when the spouses of AFSCME workers whose employers offer health insurance must select those plans as their primary coverage, Couch said.

Couch said he has no estimate on how many employees and their spouses this new rule will impact, but most city employees are enrolled in family plans.

The city projects the changes will slow the pace of growth in health insurance costs.

Statewide, about 40 percent of employers in Ohio have instituted the same spousal-eligibility policies, said Brent McKenzie, the city’s deputy director of human resources.

The city is in or soon will be in negotiations with its other three unions and has proposed the same health care changes. The other unions represent almost 700 employees.

The city also plans to introduce legislation implementing spousal-eligibility rules for managers and nonunion employees.

Under the new contract, AFSCME members also can now cash in unused sick leave, encouraging employees to stay on the job instead of trading sick days for time off.

For decades, workers have been allowed to convert unused sick leave into vacation.

But the city’s payroll has shrunk considerably, and the new policy will provide an incentive for workers to take payouts instead of vacation, officials said.

“Like all cities and governments in the region, we’ve lost employees because of budget challenges,” McKenzie said. “To get the work done, we need the bodies there.”

About the Author