Increase in Health Benefit Premiums
It was brought to our attention that Aetna has increased our health insurance premiums by 17.85%. We are meeting with NPS and the other union heads tomorrow to discuss this untimely increase further. It is important to note that this it wasn't a negotiated or negotiable change. In fact, we warned the then state-operated school board and Superintendent about Aetna in 2016 (see below emails). Short term savings were promised, but as we said at the time, "we hesitate to trust any claim [being] made by the district [about this change]."
As the holidays draw closer, everyone is getting in the spirit. That includes Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees (BCFPE) President John Ripley. President Ripley brought some cheer to our Metro Baltimore AFL-CIO neighbors in Harford County joining with the Fallston Volunteer Fire and Ambulance and the Marine Corps Reserve for their Toys for Tots program.
Celebrating one of our own! The new Baltimore County executive John Olszewski Jr. has named BCFPE President and AFT-Maryland Vice President John Ripley to his transition team. Ripley has been assigned to the public safety workgroup.