Council 94 denied block of higher health-care costs
4:56 PM Mon, Sep 29, 2008 | Permalink
Email
 |
 |
Projo 7 to 7 News BlogTaking the news pulse of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, by Providence Journal and projo.com staff, from 7 to 7, every business day |
|
Get the 7 to 7 on your mobile at www.projo.com. Twitter: projo | RSS | Email alerts
« Carcieri to recognize RI's Olympians this afternoon |
Main
| No West Nile or EEE found in latest R.I. tests »
By Cynthia Needham PROVIDENCE -- A Superior Court judge has denied a last-minute attempt by the state's largest public-employee union to block the Carcieri administration from imposing higher health-care premiums on state workers who retire after tomorrow. Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer told the parties today that the request was filed both too late and without proper explanation of who it would benefit, given that most of the 1,100 employees who are expected to retire as a result of the increases have already done so. "What troubles the court is that we get a request for a temporary restraining order a day and a half before [the change] is to take effect," Pfeiffer said from the bench. "...and there is no named plaintiff who will suffer any harm here." The judge ordered both the union and governor's office back to court in late October to determine the overall merits of the case, namely whether the state was justified in legislating coverage increases back in May. Kiernan King, Governor Carcieri's chief legal counsel, hailed Pfeiffer's decision today as a win for the state. The union's last-minute plea, he said "is suggestive of a political strategy. If [union leaders were] truly, genuinely concerned about their members, they would have filed this action much earlier." Council 94, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, filed a motion on Friday seeking to block a new state law that reduces health benefits for state workers retiring after today. The looming change has lead to the exodus of more than 12 percent of the state's workforce. "The changes have forced employees... to retire before they had originally planned on retiring," the Council 94 complaint states. "Anyone who retires after September 30, 2008 will be subject to drastically different retirement health insurance benefits." Your Turn: Share your concerns about state work force reductions At a hearing on Friday -- held in Newport because of a scheduling conflict in Providence -- Superior Court Judge Edward Clifton elected not to intervene and sent the case back to Providence, according to courts spokesman Craig N. Berke. After today's decision, Council 94 President J. Michael Downey said the union will now look ahead to October. "We are really following through on the promise we made to our members that we would fight the changes made to their retiree health coverage," Downey said. As for the accusations of an 11-hour motion, Downey said the union believed it filed "in a timely fashion." "We felt as though we wanted to get it done before the law took effect and we did that," he said. Berke said the judge elected to wait until Oct. 20 to begin a formal hearing on the case to allow enough time for the parties to respond to the initial complaint. 
|
Tags 
New comments
New photos
New posts
Projo blogs
Archives
Leave a comment
Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.