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August 27, 2010 in City
State workers’ health benefits at issue
OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire wants state workers to pay up to 26 percent of their health insurance premiums next year, part of a hold-the-line contract offer that will include no pay raises.
One other option in the offer is for workers to keep paying 12 percent of health premiums but accept even higher out-of-pocket costs that already went up in January.
“We don’t have any money,” said Gregoire’s budget director, Marty Brown. Brown was responding to questions Wednesday about the offer that Gregoire’s labor negotiators made to unions during formal contract talks Tuesday.
The Washington Federation of State Employees has rejected the offer, which covers health, dental, vision and life insurance costs. Only the health care portion of those benefits is in dispute.
“Our best estimate is you would be taking a pay cut of $2,316 a year,” spokesman Tim Welch said Wednesday, describing the financial hit for a worker with full-family coverage in one of the two biggest worker health plans, Uniform Medical or Group Health. Welch said it is equivalent to a pay cut of almost 8 percent for a low-paid custodian.
“We’re probably in the middle of a four-year wage freeze. We’ve already taken cuts and furloughs and cuts in health benefits; out-of-pocket health costs went up dramatically Jan. 1,” Welch added.
Brown said the state’s offer is to continue paying $850 per month per worker on average for health and other insurance benefits, which translates into the state paying about 74 percent of health insurance costs.
The Labor Relations Office is negotiating about two dozen labor contracts with unions representing workers in general government and higher education. Agreements must be reached and ratified by Oct. 1 to allow inclusion in Gregoire’s budget proposal for 2011-’13.
The rival parties were at the table again Wednesday at the Thurston County Fairgrounds, and Brown spoke because top labor negotiator Diane Leigh was tied up in talks. No formal pay offer is on the table to the federation, but Brown said the governor’s negotiators want a contract that freezes pay, including so-called “step” or longevity increases that reward a portion of workers for their experience.
State employees today pay 12 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums, and the state pays the other 88 percent. Minority Republicans in the Legislature have said the workers’ share is too low, despite increases in out-of-pocket costs in recent years.
2 home invasion robberies in Spokane 
JBlim on August 27 at 6:48 a.m.
According to all the academic studies on the issue, government workers already make less than their private counterparts:
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/wage-penalty-state-local-gov-employees/
Now just because the movers and shakers in Washington politics (mainly the wealthy agenda setters) have gotten the state into a financial pickle, who else would they look to chisel money from? Right, the underpaid, unappreciated state custodians, secretaries, accounting clerks and so on. No, how about we instead tax those folks who got us into the mess and largely benefit from the state’s operations?
Or perhaps the state should go to its suppliers and say. well we’re in a financial situation, so we’re only paying 90% for that ream of paper. Sorry, Avista, we’re only paying 90% for that electicity and natural gas. I’m sure that would go over just swell.
But somehow, we can take advantage of workers.
misjustice on August 27 at 7:01 a.m.
JBlim; as you know gubmint workers are the new “welfare queens”.
The assault is being waged by dittoheads and Beckerheads which are being whipped into faux outrage by their beloved Rush and Beck. Gubmint workers and those fortunate enough to be represented by a union are being deamonized and blamed for a situation which they have nothing to do with; the Great Recession was caused by the elite, by failed taxing policies and by the former “leaders” at the federal level. But don’t expect the underinformed consumers of Faux Noose to comprehend when and where the problem began, they are too busy rounding up their pitchforks and practicing their mantra.
JBlim on August 27 at 7:33 a.m.
I think I’d go with mal-informed or disinformed rather than underinformed, misjustice
misjustice on August 27 at 7:34 a.m.
Good point.
Orphan on August 27 at 8:18 a.m.
JBLIM
“unappreciated state custodians, secretaries, accounting clerks” Are these the same snarly, smart mouthed custodians, Secretarys and accounting clerks I encounter at most State Offices? The exact same ones that wont go 1 second out of their way to help someone that has a problem understanding Gubmint paperwork. If so I dont feel sorry for them. I get much better service from the 18 year old minimum wage kid at McDonalds without the attitude. I absolutly dread having to deal with any state employee.
lewis8457 on August 27 at 8:47 a.m.
Orphan you are right I recently went to DVR for help with a disability I have. I was treated with no empathy at all. Just cold why are you here attitude. I felt like I was wasting the counselors time maybe guiding light was on in the break room somewhere.
I have a friend that works for DSHS and even though his wage isn’t high it is more then he can make on private sector and when he complain too loud I remind him he has golden egg benefits that total close to 20 grand a year.
I would kill for those benefits. My employer offered me medical insurance for 300 bucks a month.
My only benefit I still have a job.
Ninch on August 27 at 8:51 a.m.
State workers paying a larger proportion of health insurance costs is NOT a bad idea. Since they do not need to pay income tax on their generous benefits means that they have a much higher income (and also increasing income) over and above their hourly wages. Very few private workers have such a good deal as our state workers. State workers should pay their fair share instead of relying on taxpayer dollars… who in this state are already hurting. (Remember that everyone of all income levels pays the regressive sales tax and the recent new taxes.) Why state workers actually think that they do not need to “sacrifice” anything is beyond comprehension. At least they have a job, and even janitor and secretarial jobs at the state are relatively well-paid compared to the private sector.
Ninch on August 27 at 8:58 a.m.
P.S. I agree that “service” is not in the vernacular of the average state worker. Too many believe that they are “entitled” to their job and maximum benefits no matter how poorly they meet the written job description/obligations of their positions. The rest of us work as “at will” employees who recognize that job performance is a critical factor to continued employment.
liarsinnews on August 27 at 10:40 a.m.
If a concerned public employee thinks they are being picked on, compare the private sector medical benefits to government health care plans. Enough said, other than I agree that their are smart mouths posting pathetic comments here, and it sounds as if they feel a need for special treatment.
cryssT on August 27 at 1:12 p.m.
Ah yes, private sector benefits. Boeing and Microsoft to name two pay the majority or all of the health benefits for their employees. Waste Management garbage collectors make over 100K in King County and y’all don’t whine about that. With no pay raises for 4 years State Employees should not have to take an additional pay cut in the form of higher co-pays or monthly costs. In 2011 there will be only 2 companies to offer health care to State Employees in Spokane - Uniform and Group Health. That is down from at least 5 companies back in 2000. If y’all think you have all the answers than run for positions like State Representative who after serving one term can pay reasonably for health benefits or after two terms get the health benefits, whether they are in office or not. Now there’s the scam, work 60-90 days and have health care all year.
misjustice on August 27 at 3:16 p.m.
As I said, rounding up their pitchforks and practicing their mantra!
JBlim on August 27 at 5:11 p.m.
You guys with the anecdotes about how you think government workers make more than private companies, or those of you who are crying about how people who studied hard and went to college and earn more than you do conveniently didn’t read the study I cited, so I am listing a summary here:
“…Recession, not overpaid public sector employees to blame for state and local budget woes
For Immediate Release:May 12, 2010
Contact: Alan Barber, (202) 293-5380 x115
Washington, D.C. - A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that state and local government workers pay a wage penalty compared to private-sector workers with similar characteristics. Recent media accounts have suggested that state and local workers earn more than private sector employees, but these analyses fail to control for the fact that public employees are on average older and have substantially more formal education than private sector workers, according to the CEPR report.
Once these systematic differences in the workforces are taken into effect, state and local government employees earn about 4 percent less than private sector workers at the same age and education level, the CEPR finds. The pay penalty is particularly large for the most skilled state and local workers, who trail more than 10 percent behind their private sector counterparts. The report, “The Wage Penalty for State and Local Government Employees” uses data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) on the state and local government workforce and the private sector-workforce and finds three important differences:
1. State and local employees are substantially better educated than workers in the private sector —over half of state and local employees have a four-year college degree or more, compared to about 30 percent in the private sector.
2. State and local employees are about four years older than private sector workers.
3. Sixty percent of state and local workers are women compared to less than half of private sector worker.
“We expect and the market confirms that older, better-educated workers earn more than younger workers with less formal education,” said John Schmitt, a senior economist at CEPR and author of the study. “When we compare state and local government workers with private sector workers on an apples-to-apples basis, state and local pay actually trails a bit behind pay in the private sector.”
The full study contains data on the earnings differential between private and public sector employees based on wage levels, age, and gender as well as the composition of the state and local government workforce on a state-by-state basis through 2009, the latest full year of available data….”
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/wage-penalty-state-local-gov-employees/
misjustice on August 27 at 6:07 p.m.
Since many posters on this thread have presented anecdotal “evidence” to support their claims, I’d like to offer mine.
Whenever I have interacted with gubmint workers, whether it was city, county, or state I have had a GOOD experience! But then I don’t go into the gubmint office with an attitude that the worker bee is my servant, or that they are undeserving of their wages/working conditions, or with a chip on my shoulder, or thinking that I am going to have anything other than a positive experience. Could just be my outlook but I also think that people often get what they expect to get; sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy!
JBlim on August 27 at 6:42 p.m.
Yup, try not to look like a wild-eyed, anti-government wacko with an attitude when you want some sympathy from a government employee. Makes sense.
misjustice on August 27 at 7:10 p.m.
“When we compare state and local government workers with private sector workers on an apples-to-apples basis, state and local pay actually trails a bit behind pay in the private sector.”
WHAT?
; ) Thanks for the post, JBlim. It’s a good source.
liarsinnews on August 27 at 7:37 p.m.
What a crock you government workers that have diarrhea of the mouth . How about the city of Spokane handing out pensions with as little as 5 years of service at age 50 and no deduction for early retirement. Includes portability provisions.
JBlim on August 27 at 9:12 p.m.
Hey dick, I cited an actual study. It sounds like you’re mad because your preconceived notions conflict with reality.
misjustice on August 28 at 8:28 a.m.
Reality bites; and flies in the face of what the Beckerheads “know” to be “true”.
I’m not a gubmint worker, I own a small business. But I do support gubmint workers in the often difficult jobs that they do, especially when dealing with the malcontents that frequent these blogs. Dealing with the pitchforks crowd can not be easy!
cryssT on August 28 at 9:45 a.m.
and the truly interesting part of this discussion - 17 comments posted here about this. 11 pages of discussion in The Olympian, the newspaper from Olympia.