Health+Care+Action

Dear Members, I am pleased to announce Michael O'Shea's candidacy for Sharon Selectman. I was notified yesterday by Mike that he is seeking the support of the Sharon Teachers’ Association. While traditionally this association has avoided endorsing a specific candidate I am asking you personally to consider Michael O’Shea. Mike is very aware of Selectman Richard Powell's assault on Sharon employee benefits and understands Sharon's political landscape. He has decided to run against Selectman Powell on a expedited grassroots "Sticker Campaign". This will be very challenging and time sensitive. The Selectman's election is being held next TUESDAY MAY 15th at the High School - voting Polls open at 7am and close at 8pm. Mike has supporters lined up from 7am until noon, and is in need of assistance in sign holding and sticker handlers until the polls close but more importantly he needs your vote. I am urging STA members who live in town to come out and vote for Michael O’Shea both to unseat Selectman Richard Powell who is chiefly responsible for the attack on our health care benefits and to send a message to the other two selectmen that there are consequences for taking anti-labor positions and for hurting our families. I have attached a campaign brochure about Michael O’Shea for your consideration. In order to vote for Mike, you need to write his name in the “write-in” space on the ballot. I urge all members that reside in Sharon to vote for Mike on Tuesday and all other members contact any friends and or family that reside in Sharon and encourage them to get out and vote on the 15th for MICHAEL O'SHEA for SELECTMAN. Thank you. Chuck Fazzio
 * Update: May 14, 2012 **

Health Care Update - 4/29/2012
Dear Fellow Members, I am writing to update you on the health care plan that we recently voted on. When the STA membership met on March 27, 2012 we informed you that the maximum out of pocket deduction would be $1250.00 for an individual plan and $2000.00 for a family plan. This was the last proposal presented to the PEC at our final meeting on March 15, 2012. The town now insists that that the deductible proposal went away after we agreed to a two-year $200,000 per year mitigation fund with a third-year reopener. They are now insisting that the maximum out-of-pocket deduction will be $2000.00 for an individual plan and $4000.00 for a family plan. Due to the last-minute nature of this change that the town insisted on, there was no time to challenge this. We were not the only group in the PEC confused by this, but this is what the town now insists was agreed upon. The final outcome is still better than the town’s original offer, which was the same $2000.00 / $4000.00 out-of-pocket, but the mitigation would have been only $163,500 for one year and that would have been it. Since the state law that made these changes possible does not allow for true collective bargaining, there is no way to file an unfair labor practice or challenge the end result. If you are as upset about this as we are, it is crucial that we band together to elect new members to the state legislature and the town’s board of selectmen. Your next opportunity to express your feelings will be on May 14, 2012 at 4:15pm, probably in Mansfield. We are looking for a large turnout to meet with State Senator Timilty who, along with State Representative Lou Kafka, were part of the majority of the state legislature who voted for this atrocious bill Respectfully, Chuck Fazzio STA President

State Representative Lou Kafka - meeting with members April 5th
Next Thursday, April 5th, State Representative Lou Kafka will be visiting Sharon High School to conduct a community meeting sponsored by the MTA. If you feel that your collective bargaining rights are under assault, particulary in regard to your health care benefits, Rep. Kafka is one of the best people to discuss this issue with. As with the Town Selectmen's meetings last week, a large showing of support and concern will make a powerful impression on one of our elected officials. I'm not sure we need any chanting this time but a large turnout and some pointed questions will get our point across. The meeting will take place in the High School Library at about 4:30. Show up early if you want to get a good seat. Regards, Pete Schoonmaker STA Political Action Liaison

**Health Care Update – 3/23/12** Due to our presence at town hall Tuesday and Thursday evening, the Sharon Board of Selectmen voted to accept the agreement negotiated between the town administration and the Sharon Public Employees Committee. The agreement puts the GIC-like health care plan in place, as of July 1, but includes an allocation of $200,000 per year for two years to fund a Heath Resource Account (HRA) which will help defray some of the additional out-of-pocket costs we’ll be subject to. We feel that this is the best deal we could get, given the fact that the State Legislature gave cities and towns the authority to make these changes without being subject to collective bargaining. Two final hurdles remain: First, the STA has to ratify a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the School Committee in which we agree to increase the co-pay amounts written into our contract. This represents a sacrifice on our part, but it was an essential piece of getting this deal done. Please keep in mind that this was mostly a moot point since the contractual co-pays would have expired at the end of our current contract in July of 2013. Please also understand that if we don’t make this sacrifice, the Town is prepared to impose the worst-case plan that we described to you a couple of weeks ago, and that it won’t just affect us, it will affect all town employees. Members are invited to meet in the High School cafeteria at 3:30pm on Tuesday, March 27th for the purpose of ratifying the MOA. The last item that remains is working out the final details of the HRA. The members of the PEC will meet at least once more with the town administration to make sure we get everything we’ve agreed to. Once that’s done, we’ll be able to tell all of you with certainty how the changes will affect you. We’d like to express our most profound gratitude to all those who came out to demonstrate at Town Hall. The strong showing Tuesday and Thursday night made a powerful impression on everyone involved in this process. We got a lot of positive feedback from the community, and we feel confident that we will find support in the future (check out the Sharon Patch for pictures of some of your colleagues, you might even find yourself immortalized on the web). We want to thank the selectmen in town for galvanizing all of the town unions for the first time in the community’s history. All of the local unions are now committed to working together to amend the existing state legislation. Everyone should be proud of the contributions given to this cause. Thanks again for your support. This is part of a longer, larger fight, to preserve our collective bargaining rights, and with your continued advice and support, we look forward to making things better for you, our members, our colleagues, and our friends. In solidarity,Chuck Fazzio, STA President Bernadette Murphy STA Vice President Pete Schoonmaker, PEC representative **__MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT__** **__between the__** **__SHARON SCHOOL COMMITTEE__** **__and the__** **__SHARON TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION__** The Sharon School Committee (“the Committee”) and the Sharon Teachers’ Association, (“the Union”), hereby mutually agree to the following terms and conditions to amend the parties’ current Collective Bargaining Agreement, in effect from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2013: //Office Visit – Twenty dollars ($20)// //Prescriptions (Retail) – Ten/Twenty-five/Fifty dollars ($10/$25/$50)// //Prescriptions (Mail Order) – Twenty/Fifty/One hundred ten dollars ($20/$50/$110)// __For the Sharon School Committee Date__ For the Sharon Teachers’ Association Date
 * 1) The co-payment amounts for Network Blue set forth in __Appendix F__, currently reading “($10/COPAY - $10, $20, $35),” shall be amended to read as follows:
 * 1) For purposes of Section 4 of Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2011, the above-referenced changes to Appendix F of the parties’ July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2013 collective bargaining agreement shall be considered effective as of the date of execution of this memorandum of agreement.
 * 2) All other terms and provisions of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement shall remain unchanged.
 * Wherefore**, intending to be bound, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the date set forth below.

**Municipal Health Insurance Law Summary: ** The Selectmen recently voted to pursue unilateral changes to our health care plan as permitted under MGL 32 sec.22-23. As a result of the new law, these changes in healthcare cannot be collectively bargained. At the end of the 30-day window, the town may unilaterally implement their plan. The P.E.C. (Public Employee Committee) will do its best to persuade the town officials to be fair, but the town officials are under no obligation to do anything but negotiate the mitigation plan. Please use the  Health Care Action  page to keep up to date on what you can do to help have our voices be heard!

=Health Care Update: 3/21/2= Tuesday night (3/20) a strong, vocal turnout rallied at the Sharon Town Hall and got the attention of the Sharon town selectmen. The selectmen did not vote on the tentative agreement but at approximately 8pm went into executive session to discuss the proposal. The town manager Mr. Ben Puritz and town treasurer Mr. Bill Fowler have assured us that we will have something in writing __today__, Wednesday March 21. Should we receive this document I will forward it to MTA for one last look and then put it out to the membership. I will also release a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that the entire Association **__must__** agree to in order for the new health plan to go into effect on July 1, 2012. If this MOA fails to pass a vote of the STA membership the town will implement the worst case scenario presented earlier this month. It is our sincere hope to call a general meeting of ALL STA members on Tuesday March 27, 2012 at 3:30pm in the cafeteria at SHS. We need a stronger showing this Thursday evening March 23 between 6:30-8pm at Sharon Town Hall. The town will be taking the official vote to accept or reject the negotiated settlement. We need to be there in numbers greater than last night. This is critical to our future so please clear your calendars and be there. In solidarity, Chuck Fazzio STA President **Chuck's Letter: **

**Health Care Update – 3/23/12**

Due to our presence at town hall Tuesday and Thursday evening, the Sharon Board of Selectmen voted to accept the agreement negotiated between the town administration and the Sharon Public Employees Committee. The agreement puts the GIC-like health care plan in place, as of July 1, but includes an allocation of $200,000 per year for two years to fund a Heath Resource Account (HRA) which will help defray some of the additional out-of-pocket costs we’ll be subject to. We feel that this is the best deal we could get, given the fact that the State Legislature gave cities and towns the authority to make these changes without being subject to collective bargaining.

Two final hurdles remain: First, the STA has to ratify a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the School Committee in which we agree to increase the co-pay amounts written into our contract. This represents a sacrifice on our part, but it was an essential piece of getting this deal done. Please keep in mind that this was mostly a moot point since the contractual co-pays would have expired at the end of our current contract in July of 2013. Please also understand that if we don’t make this sacrifice, the Town is prepared to impose the worst-case plan that we described to you a couple of weeks ago, and that it won’t just affect us, it will affect all town employees. Members are invited to meet in the High School cafeteria at 3:30pm on Tuesday, March 27th for the purpose of ratifying the MOA.

The last item that remains is working out the final details of the HRA. The members of the PEC will meet at least once more with the town administration to make sure we get everything we’ve agreed to. Once that’s done, we’ll be able to tell all of you with certainty how the changes will affect you.

We’d like to express our most profound gratitude to all those who came out to demonstrate at Town Hall. The strong showing Tuesday and Thursday night made a powerful impression on everyone involved in this process. We got a lot of positive feedback from the community, and we feel confident that we will find support in the future (check out the Sharon Patch for pictures of some of your colleagues, you might even find yourself immortalized on the web).

We want to thank the selectmen in town for galvanizing all of the town unions for the first time in the community’s history. All of the local unions are now committed to working together to amend the existing state legislation. Everyone should be proud of the contributions given to this cause. Thanks again for your support. This is part of a longer, larger fight, to preserve our collective bargaining rights, and with your continued advice and support, we look forward to making things better for you, our members, our colleagues, and our friends.

In solidarity,Chuck Fazzio, STA President

Bernadette Murphy STA Vice President

Pete Schoonmaker, PEC representative

**__MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT__**

**__between the__**

**__SHARON SCHOOL COMMITTEE__**

**__and the__**

**__SHARON TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION__**

The Sharon School Committee (“the Committee”) and the Sharon Teachers’ Association, (“the Union”), hereby mutually agree to the following terms and conditions to amend the parties’ current Collective Bargaining Agreement, in effect from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2013:


 * 1) The co-payment amounts for Network Blue set forth in __Appendix F__, currently reading “($10/COPAY - $10, $20, $35),” shall be amended to read as follows:

//Office Visit – Twenty dollars ($20)//

//Prescriptions (Retail) – Ten/Twenty-five/Fifty dollars ($10/$25/$50)//

//Prescriptions (Mail Order) – Twenty/Fifty/One hundred ten dollars ($20/$50/$110)//


 * 1) For purposes of Section 4 of Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2011, the above-referenced changes to Appendix F of the parties’ July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2013 collective bargaining agreement shall be considered effective as of the date of execution of this memorandum of agreement.
 * 2) All other terms and provisions of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement shall remain unchanged.


 * Wherefore**, intending to be bound, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the date set forth below.

__For the Sharon School Committee Date__

For the Sharon Teachers’ Association Date

As more information and resources become available, we will update this page.

The Selectmen recently voted to pursue unilateral changes to our health care plan as permitted under MGL 32 sec.22-23.

As a result of the new law, these changes in healthcare cannot be collectively bargained. At the end of the 30-day window, the town may unilaterally implement their plan. The P.E.C. (Public Employee Committee) will do its best to persuade the town officials to be fair, but the town officials are under no obligation to do anything but negotiate the mitigation plan.

=Wednesday 3/21/12 STA Update=

Last night a strong, vocal turnout rallied at the Sharon Town Hall and got the attention of the Sharon town selectmen. The selectmen did not vote on the tentative agreement but at approximately 8pm went into executive session to discuss the proposal. The town manager Mr. Ben Puritz and town treasurer Mr. Bill Fowler have assured us that we will have something in writing __today__, Wednesday March 21. Should we receive this document I will forward it to MTA for one last look and then put it out to the membership. I will also release a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that the entire Association **__must__** agree to in order for the new health plan to go into effect on July 1, 2012. If this MOA fails to pass a vote of the STA membership the town will implement the worst case scenario presented earlier this month. It is our sincere hope to call a general meeting of ALL STA members on Tuesday March 27, 2012 at 3:30pm in the cafeteria at SHS.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">** We need a stronger showing this Thursday evening March 23 between 6:30-8pm at Sharon Town Hall. The town will be taking the official vote to accept or reject the negotiated settlement. We need to be there in numbers greater than last night. This is critical to our future so please clear your calendars and be there. **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 21px;">In solidarity,

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 21px;">Chuck Fazzio

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 21px;">STA President

=Get Involved!=
 * A representative from Blue Cross/Blue Shield will be at the high school Wednesday March 21st at 4 pm to answer your questions about changes in coverage.
 * JOIN US TUESDAY, MARCH 20th at 6:30 p.m. for a RALLY in front of the TOWN HALL!
 * The link below is the letter from Chuck Fazzio outlining the tentative agreement negotiated with the town of Sharon:[[file:PEC UPDATE-3.docx]]
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">Download a copy of the <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">proposed health care changes . Please note: these are NOT the "final" numbers, but it will give you an idea of how the proposed changes will impact you:[[file:Health Care Handout 3-10-12.doc]]