A state fact finder says members of the county Civil Service Employees Association should contribute to their health care plans, according to an announcement from Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.
The CSEA is one of eight public sector employee unions in Westchester and the sole remaining group that doesn”™t contribute to its health care plans. The union and Astorino, a Republican, haven”™t been able to settle on a new contract due mainly to differences in opinion on if union members should pay a percentage of the health care costs. A fact finder heard from negotiators on both sides late last year and originally was to make recommendations in February.
Howard Edelman, the state fact finder, issued recommendations for terms of the negotiations, and Astorino said Monday he would accept those recommendations. Both sides need to agree before the terms becoming binding. Astorino said neither side “got exactly what it wanted.”
“The fact finder simply recognized that in today”™s economy all employees must pay a share of their health care,” he said. “This is true in the private sector and the public sector. It is time for the CSEA to recognize this reality.”
According to Astorino”™s office, the recommendations for health care included a tiered system based on salary, with payments ranging from 7.5 percent to 10 percent of premiums for existing members and 20 percent for new members of the CSEA.
Edelman also recommended retroactive salary freezes for 2012-13 and 2 percent increases for 2014 and 2015. A message left on the voicemail of CSEA Unit 9200 President Kwabena Manu was not immediately returned Monday morning.
