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Union protests, files grievance with MSU about health care changes

August 29, 2014

On the morning of Aug. 29, members of the Michigan State Graduates Employees Union, or GEU, gathered on the steps of the Hannah administration building to protest changes MSU and its health insurance provider, Aetna, made to their employee health care plans.

The GEU argued in a statement that MSU is in violation of “the Public Employee Relations Act (PERA) by unilaterally decreasing the levels of health insurance coverage it is obligated to provide Teaching Assistants.”

The university argues the changes are mandatory under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, and required in order to be compliant with the law.

The union and its legal counsel contend that the plan is not subject to reforms of the because the plan which the GEU is under cannot be considered a student plan because it is available exclusively to GEU members.

Still, the union claims the university violated its collective bargaining agreement with graduate employees and in response filed a grievance against MSU.

However, Provost June Youatt contended in a letter to the union’s president that when informed in March 2014 that the university was allegedly compelled to make changes to the plan “the GEU failed to formally demand bargaining.”

GEU Vice President for Organizing and Outreach Danny Ritter said the previous health care plan had significant benefits that current plan does not.

“What we (should) have is based off the student plan but has extra benefits and you’re only eligible to get if you are an employee,” Ritter said.

MSU decreased graduate employee benefits to almost mirror the general student plan. Deductibles were doubled to $100, preferred Care co-insurance went from 95 to 90 percent, out-of-pocket maximum went from $900 to $1500, and pharmacy co-pays increased 150 percent, according to the GEU.

Thechanges, as explained in a GEU statement, “result in some graduate employees having to pay up to $1,500 in health care costs.”

Sophia Pavlos, GEU’s vice president for contract negotiation and enforcement, contends the changes are illegal and unnecessary. Pavlos said GEU members should be entitled to having their original health care plan restored.

“(MSU administration) told us over summer, that they were going to have to change (the health care plans) due to the ACA. We haven’t found any evidence, nor has the administration provided any evidence that that’s true,” Pavlos said. “We’ve talked to ACA experts and to legal counsel that have advised us that the changes aren’t necessary. What they’ve done is violated the terms of our contract which is legally binding under PERA.”

Pavlos explained that her organization was worried about other implications this move by MSU administration could have.

“If they see they got away with it this time because students didn’t care or they were apathetic about it maybe they’ll try and get away with something else in the future,” she said.

In a letter to GEU President Sylvia Marques on Aug. 21, Youatt said the university was informed by Aetna that the plan GEU was under did not comply with the ACA. This was also verified by Mercer, an external health benefits consultant, Youatt said in the letter.

She said the GEU plan has always been filed as a student plan with the state of Michigan, and so the state “explicitly mandates that the plan be ACA compliant.”

Youatt, in the letter, argued the union had a history of amending their contract with the university to comply with health care reforms. In March 2014, the university was informed that the plan did not comply with ACA.

Cody said the university has a good relationship with all it’s unions and “we look forward to working with the GEU in making a plan compliant with the ACA.”

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