If you weren't at Tuesday's open-enrollment meeting you may have since heard that not only have our employee contributions risen (expected) but that the company has been maintaining a two-tiered system for premiums (completely unexpected) in which union members pay higher rates -- in some cases, much higher. The company has been doing this since it first began -- about four or five years ago -- requiring its employees to contribute to some of the plans.
After the meeting Mitch Handsone and I spoke to Maureen Aller about this, since neither of us had ever heard of there being two levels of premiums. Here are a few things you should know.
1. The rate we union members pay is the rate charged by the providers (Kaiser, Great West) themselves -- WE ARE NOT ASSIGNED A HIGHER RATE BECAUSE WE BELONG TO A UNION.
2. Village Voice Media decides how much its non-union employees' premiums will rise -- in other words, it is paying the difference between what its non-union employees pay for health coverage and what the providers are charging the corporation for that coverage.
Why is VVM subsidizing its non-union workers' healthcare? We don't know. Maureen does not know. It could be to balance out some benefits that union employees enjoy (annual reimbursement of untaken sick & personal days, a better 401(k) plan, the option of getting paid double time or taking a later day off for certain holidays -- just getting certain holidays off, period).
3. Union members should not feel that our contract has let us down. We have fought to keep Kaiser a permanent option. We were against bringing in the New Times' system-wide plan, which is notably skimpy on benefits. We also chipped away at the company's healthcare position at the contract talks and won some concessions. We also researched other Kaiser plans in Southern California and found the Weekly's rate to be slightly better than the ones we looked at. We should not feel penalized for the relatively good rates we have and think that if only we were non-union, at-will employees we'd be paying artificially low premiums.
4. Finally, please know that we are examining this two-tiered system to learn more about its origins and purpose.
All the best,
Steven Mikulan
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Though this does not address the unfairness of a two-tiered system, there is something that LA Weekly employees (Union and non-union) can do to lower the amount they pay for health care premiums: Use the flexible spending account.
It may seem confusing at first, but it's a great deal. You pay for your health care premiums (and tons of other stuff) with pre-tax dollars. That lowers your taxable income.
You pay $1000 pre year for premiums and are in a 25% tax bracket? Then by using the FSA, you lower your premiums by 25% and put an extra $250 in your pocket at tax time.
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