Deadline looming for Swampscott GIC bid

SWAMPSCOTT – An agreement between the town and the Public Employees Committee must be reached soon if the town is going to sign onto the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) for the next fiscal year.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said an agreement must be reached by Oct. 1 or the town would not be able to participate in the GIC in Fiscal Year 2010.”We are certainly approaching the end of the time frame to get it done,” he said. “The state requires a signed Public Employee agreement by Oct. 1.”The Public Employees Committee (PEC) is comprised of one representative from each of the unions in town and one representative for the retirees.Maylor explained the state requires a 70 percent vote in favor for the town to adopt the GIC. He said the state gives the retirees a 10 percent weighted vote and the other unions get a percentage of the vote based on membership. The largest voting bloc is the teachers union, which Maylor said carries approximately 56 percent of the vote.”Mathematically it cannot pass without the support of the teachers,” he said. “It’s an all or nothing proposition. If the teachers vote it down, the town cannot join the GIC.”Attempts to reach Swampscott Education President Paul Maguire, who represents the teachers on the PEC, were unsuccessful Monday.Maylor said the discussions with the PEC have been ongoing.”The dialog continues,” he said. “We have been exchanging proposals and counter-proposals for awhile. Any type of bargaining by nature has an adversarial component. But the dialog itself has not been adversarial. The discussion has been open and respectful.”Cheryl Levenson, who represents the Town Hall clerical employees, agreed with Maylor.”The discussions have been ongoing and respectful,” she said.According to Maylor, the town would save approximately $600,000 if it joined the GIC, but Levenson said the savings would be at the expense of the employees, who would be subjected to higher co-pays and deductibles.”Premiums are pre-tax and deductibles are not pre-tax,”she said. “No one is talking about how much this would cost the employees.”Neil Rossman, who represents the retirees, said the PEC is currently considering the town’s most recent proposal.”We expect the committee to meet soon,” he said. “The proposal may or may not get sent out for recommendation to the membership. The higher co-pays with the GIC are a concern for everyone. But it is a major concern for retirees because they are on a fixed income and have no ability to absorb the extra co-pays along with the increased cost of living.”