Public Employee Press

Union files lawsuit
State retirees hit with health-care premium hikes

The union has gone to court to overturn the state's unilateral increase in the health insurance premiums of retired DC 37 members who worked in the state court system and rent regulation unit.

The Cuomo administration hiked the contribution rates of 229 former state rent regulation workers at the Division of Housing and Community Renewal and 868 retirees from the Unified Court System on Oct. 1.

The state implemented the hikes after reaching a five-year contract with the Civil Service Employees Association, which is Local 1000 of DC 37's parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The CSEA contract raised the cost to members from 10 percent of the premium to 12 percent for individuals and from 25 percent to 27 percent for families.

After CSEA ratified the contract, the state imposed the premium increases on the 1,100 retired members of two DC 37 locals - Rent Regulation Services Employees Local 1359 and Court, County and Dept. of Probation Employees Local 1070 - in addition to CSEA's retirees. The state ignored the fact that health insurance premiums of the DC 37 retirees are set under civil service law and the contracts of Local 1359 and Local 1070 - not by the CSEA pact.

The DC 37 lawsuit charges the state with violating the contracts, violating state civil service law, which guarantees that health insurance benefits continue when employees retire, and violating the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which protects individuals' property rights, including contractual rights.

Assistant General Counsel Erica Gray-Nelson of the DC 37 Legal Dept. filed the lawsuit Jan. 10 in federal court.

"This is a tragedy," said Local 1359 President Dennis Ifill. "With modest pensions, our retirees are taking a real financial blow because of the state's improper increase in their health-care contributions."

"The state's action is illegal, immoral and ludicrous," said Local 1070 President and DC 37 Secretary Cliff Koppelman, "How could they apply the contract of another union to our retirees without negotiating?"

DC 37 Retirees Association President Stuart Leibowitz praised DC 37 and the locals for acting promptly to redress this injustice to the retirees. "Our retirees sacrificed to win their benefits, and we are deeply committed to protecting them,." he said.