Jersey City council to vote on city workers' contract

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
January 12, 2010, 9:18PM

Jersey City City Council expected to vote on municipal workers contract tomorrow.

The Jersey City City Council will vote tomorrow night on raises for about 650 employees.

Members of Jersey City Public Employees Local 246 recently approved a tentative contract with city officials in a 190-to-130 vote.

The contract would run from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011 and calls for a $1,000 flat raise for all members each year.
Also, in exchange for giving up the Blue Cross Blue Shield traditional healthcare plan and enrolling in an HMO -- which would save the city $350,000 to $400,000 annually -- union members will get two $1,000 one-time payments this year.
"I'm glad that in this difficult time where towns are getting frozen we're getting a $1,000-a-year raise on the rate," union President Chuck Carol said.

The union represents non-supervisory white collar municipal employees.

The contract calls for employees who retire after Feb. 1, 2011, to pay 54 percent of any increases in prescription deductibles, contributions and drug co-pays negotiated with active employees.

"What they're trying to do is coerce the senior employees to leave," Carol said, adding that he plans to retire before then.

City Administrator Brian O'Reilly said during Monday's City Council caucus the contract calls for copays on mail order drugs, which had been free, and higher copays on costly prescriptions.

Medication that cost more than $1,000 a month would cost $100, up from $20. Mail order prescriptions costing more than $1,000 a month would cost $50 per month, or $150 for a 90-day supply. Carol said this affects about 112 members.

Carol said under the HMO most drugs would be $2 for generic and $20 for brand name.

The contract also calls for all union members to get three personal days. The move would give about 450 employees an extra day off each year.