Framingham Eyes Union Bargaining Change
When officials in Framingham want to change health insurance plans for public employees, instead of negotiating individually with each of the town's unions, officials bargain with a coalition that has representatives from each of the town's unions.
Originally designed as a way to streamline bargaining, now officials believe that they could get more savings by bargaining with individual unions.
So, town officials are looking to change the bargaining structure from the coalition system to a collective bargaining system. Framingham is one of only two municipalities in the commonwealth with the coalition system, which dates back to 1993.
Framingham leaders have applied to the state Legislature for a home-rule petition to make the change.
But some union officials in town aren't happy with the proposal.
Pressing The Issues
Unions have been in the news quite a bit recently. In Wisconsin, new Republican Gov. Scott Walker has vowed to cut benefits to public employee unions. In Ohio there are rumblings of similar efforts.
The movement in Framingham isn't quite at that level, but Joe Fonseca, a firefighter in Framingham and one of the co-chairmen of the coalition bargaining unit in town, said he feels that unions, in Framingham and across the country, are being unfairly targeted.
"We didn't cause this problem," he said about rising health insurance costs. But, he said unions are now being asked to disproportionately pay for the changes to fix it. There are larger issues at play contributing to high health insurance costs, Fonseca alleges, ones that are out of Framingham's control.
As an example, he said health insurance claims by public employees decreased last year, but premiums still rose this year.
Town Manager Julian Suso said the home-rule petition is about bringing Framingham in line with most of the other communities in the commonwealth. A home-rule petition is a bill passed by the state Legislature but only applicable to the town of Framingham.
Last year health insurance cost the town more than 16 percent of its budget. Next year, it's expected to rise to 17 percent, said Suso, whose contract as town manager in Framingham was not renewed by the board this week. The home-rule petition, however, is supported by other board members and state legislators representing the town.
"When we talk to these unions, we can't discuss health insurance as part of the total compensation to employees," Suso said. "It's Labor Relations 101, but we're not able to do it."
Changing to collective bargaining is just one of the reforms Suso said he'd like to see the state grant to municipalities.
The Massachusetts Municipal Association, a statewide trade group for municipal leaders, has proposed a series of hundreds of reforms that would tackle health insurance costs, among other initiatives. Some proposals would give communities more unilateral control in health insurance coverage choices.
Union officials seem uneasy.
Specifically related to the change to collective bargaining, Fonseca said he's worried about retirees in particular, who, he said, would no longer have a voice at the bargaining table.
Unions in town, he said, have given "huge concessions" in the past, and now, he said, they're being targeted again.
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