Announcements
EAPC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30
4:30 AT PCIS
ALL MEMBERS WELCOME!
EAPC Polos and Fleeces
Show pride in your EAPC membership (and have something perfect for wearing to work on a Friday) with an EAPC polo or fleece. Both are well made, have the EAPC logo on the left chest, and really do look good.
Color is forest green.
Send an email to office@plymouthcarvereducators.com with your name, school, whether you'd like fleece or polo (or both), and your size. Men's and Women's sizes available (Women's sizes are more form fitting - order Men's for a looser fit).
Will be delivered to you at school when it comes in (takes a couple weeks). Fleece $25. Polo $15.
Current Issue Updates
Health Insurance:
The state budget for this year was signed on July 11, and with it changes to municipal health insurance were enacted. Under the new system, cities and towns have the ability to enter into expedited negotiations with labor unions over certain aspects of health insurance, and to use state benchmarks to guide those negotiations.
The Plymouth Board of Selectmen voted to enter into these negotiations, and negotiations were held between the town and the representatives of each town union (called the Public Employee Committee). Under the new state guidelines, the negotiations were mandated to be completed in 30 days. The 30 day period ended Friday, January 6, and an agreement was reached and signed by the town and unions on that date.
This agreement affects both current employees and retirees, and is for three years. A chart showing the changes to copays is accessible through the link below. The PEC focused on deductibles (there are still none) and sought to protect our most vulnerable members through keeping 100% Medicare part B reimbursement and no increase for 90 day prescriptions. The Master Medical plan, though, will be discontinued as of July 1, 2012. Please see the chart for other changes.
This agreement does not in any way affect contribution level changes, and in fact protects them for three years.
In the chart, you will see the numbers for the state plan in addition to our agreement. These state plan numbers are included because they were the benchmark for negotiations, as the town could have implemented them without bargaining. We were able, through our negotiations, to protect our members from these drastic increases while also realizing some savings for the town.
This is a complicated issue. Please look over the chart, and more information will certainly be coming out. If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact the EAPC office. A lot of people have been working on this for some time now, and we hope that every EAPC member, and every town employee and retiree, can be completely informed on our efforts.
Click on this link to see chart of new Plymouth health insurance copays: Link to Health Insurance Chart
Update based on questions received from members:
- New copays go into effect July 1, 2012. There will be an open enrollment period before then and continued information coming from EAPC.
- There were no changes dental coverage.
- Non-Medicare eligible retirees' status was not changed. Those hired before 1986 may fall into this category - please call the Benefits office to see if you are in this group. These retirees may be eligible for Medicare through a spouse, or will have access to Blue Choice or Blue Care Elect in retirement. The PEC did try to protect this group of retirees from increased copays, but were unsuccessful.
Teacher Evaluation:
On June 28, the DESE approved new regulations regarding teacher evaluation. These will be implemented over the course of the next few years. Please see this article for more information.
EAPC/MTA/NEA DUES INFO
The link below will take you to a breakdown of dues information for 2010-2011 and the upcoming 2011-2012 years. Please contact the EAPC office at office@plymouthcarvereducators.com if you have any questions.
Also, a couple quick reminders:
- Please make sure to check your first pay stub of the school year to ensure that your pay is correct and that the proper dues amount is being deducted.
- Please make sure to save your final December pay stub, as this will have information relevant for yearly tax purposes.
The speech touches on some important aspects of education today, and also holds an important message for teachers. In the "related videos" section, you'll also see some interviews with Matt Damon regarding education that you might enjoy (a couple do have some mature language).