In another sign that it can be done, that the so-called healthcare “emergency” isn’t real, Jackson Health System has reached a possible 
compromise agreement with the public hospital’s two labor unions to phase out the famous and forced 5% “group healthcare” contribution that has been the cause of so much hand-wringing at County Hall.
Watch the county follow with the other nine unions, one way or another, at the next impasse hearing after the mayor’s eventual veto of the commission’s 8-5 decision to give back the entire 5% immediately. (And sources tell Ladra that Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa‘s emissaries have polled union leaders to see if Feb. 4 was a good date for all).
Faced with either a commission-imposed full restoration or starting back at square one after a veto, Jackson CEO Carlos Migoya took it upon himself and met with union leaders to hammer out a Plan B. They announced Wednesday that hospital employees will have their contribution toward a group healthcare fund reduced to 2%, retroactive to Jan. 1, through the fiscal year. Then it will go away completely beginning Oct. 1.
In addition — as if to right what they know is a wrong — upper level executives who have not paid the 5%, which began being taken from the more lowerly employees’ paychecks in 2009, will have to contribute the 2% through the end of this year. And, since JHS closed this year with a $45-million surplus, Jackson will pay its employees a one-time bonus of 3% of their base pay.
Migoya called the bonuses “gain-sharing payments.” Ladra calls them a “net gain” way to sell the 2% take on the executives who aren’t paying anything now.
Union leaders said the agreement recognized their contribution to the fiscal recovery that JHS has made and said it will go a long way toward improving a dismal morale among the ranks, letting them concentrate on providing healthcare. What a concept.
But, even more importantly, Migoya seems to have set the bar, if you will, for the county in its negotiations with the rest of the unions.
Migoya’s move sends a message: It can be done.
“This is a prime example of the great ideas that we discover when labor and management leaders come together in good faith around a common belief,” Migoya said in released statement that predicted a more secure future for JSH now that management and employees are working together as a team. Seems like an indirecta to me.
What does Migoya have that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez doesn’t?
Compassion? Creativity? Common sense [now]? Cojones?
“Flexibility,” said Terry Murphy, a government consultant who works with several of the unions.
Leadership skills, said PBA President John Rivera. “Migoya actually expressed a leadership quality that the mayor does not possess,” he said.
And what does this potential agreement do to the pending veto on the 8-5 decision last week by the county commission to restore the 5% — a concession agreed to in 2009 to stem the allegedly skyrocketing costs of healthcare premiums — to all employees? Not much on the outside, but it has some interior impact.
Migoya apparently briefed the mayor on the plan before he announced it. Gimenez and the CEO — both men at one point were city managers in the City of Miami — were seen having “a mini conference” Wednedsay morning in commission chambers during the photos and presentations segment of the commission meeting. At one point, Human Resources Director Arleen Cuellar and Deputy Mayor Ed Marquez also joined in the conversation. The mayor and Migoya parted shaking their heads in agreement.
Gimenez — who claims that ending the contribution would cause a $56-million shortfall and who can’t find any space for employees in his $4.4 billion budget — will likely still veto the majority commission’s vote. He sorta has to. He is relying on this for his re-election campaign (more on that later). But the language in the veto message might, indeed, indicate that Jackson’s formula can be an acceptable resolution in the other cases.
It certainly gives the county a model. At least two Commissioners, Sally Heyman and Jean Monestime, were willing to support a phasing out of the 5% over time. And Heyman was one of the no votes in the dissenting five.
Will the other union leaders be willing to go this route? Well, they’re in an awkward spot. They got a full 5% on the table and are still hoping that one commissioner will gain the courage to override the veto (more on that later).
The PBA’s Rivera, whose horrible relationship with the mayor is legendary, said they are solid in their position that police officers are due the entire 5% yesterday. “The mayor put us in this position. You can’t beat us up over and over and over again and then expect us to be the nice guys,” Rivera said. Nice guys. His words. Funny.
Emilio Azoy, president of the water and sewer department’s union, representing 1,800 employees, agreed. He says that especially since his proprietary department has a surplus, that the county can afford to return their 5%. All of it. Backdated to Jan. 1.
But, he admits, it seems like the writing is on the wall.
“Gimenez was probably looking at something like that all along,” Azoy said.
Ladra thinks that if the commission fails to override the veto — and I will explain later why that is an insult to democracy — someone will quickly suggest this route. The imposed phase-out resolution to the impasse will then go to the different memberships for a vote. And Ladra believes that county workers will approve it. Not just because they are totally over this already.
Unlike the mayor, they are willing to negotiate, to compromise, to give a little. They did it once before. In 2009.
Jackson Health union compromise on 5% could set example added by Ladra on
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