TWU Health Issues

To the Editor:

Is there a secret handshake to understand the psyche of Mr. Roger Toussaint? He has now reported in the news that he had a secret deal between the MTA and TWU Local 100. The exact terms of this "new" agreement are unknown except by him and the negotiators. Do his contemporaries now look right and he wrong about a secret deal back in December 2005? Only time will tell.

Back on Sept. 29, 2005, Group Health Incorporated ("GHI") and HIP Health Plan of New York ("HIP") announced that they agreed to merge. There was not much fanfare coming from Mr. Toussaint and others about the overall effect to around 38,000 active members and an unknown number of retired members. Mr. Toussaint, to my knowledge, has not published the number of retirees who are going to be affected by any contractual agreements between management and the local or in binding arbitration. Mr. Toussaint has kept those numbers a secret.

With this merger, there is a world of unknown possibilities, with rhetoric about active or retiree health benefits. The 1.5-percent giveback figure was/is a sticking point for Mr. Toussaint, which subsequently torpedoed the contract by 2,700 or 7 votes on the first vote, depending on whom you believe.

Ainsley Stewart alleges, in his Letter to the Editor in the Oct. 13 issue, a 2,700-vote margin in turning down the contract. He also alleges that Mr. Toussaint will not let the American Arbitration Association release any figures of the vote tally for the first vote and the re-vote. Why is Mr. Toussaint being secretive?

Mr. Toussaint initially did not tell anyone outside of his inner circle who the union hall was sold to - allegedly to protect the buyers' privacy. Secretive again, don't you think?

Now, with this merger between GHI and HIP, things should matter. The infancy of the merger is quite fresh but it stands to reason - why wasn't the membership told? Think about this; we had two choices for active member health care before the agreement to merge; now we have one for members. Mr. Toussaint fought for this contract over retiree or active members' benefits even unto this day, but currently we have one active member health provider for NYCT employees represented by TWU Local 100.

If this stale contract fight is any indication of how important health benefits currently are, it should have been imperative to tell the members of the choices in health care, or lack thereof. It also should have been important for Mr. Toussaint to tell us that he had first-hand knowledge of this merger since he currently sits on the GHI board of directors. Whether or not he approved the merger is irrelevant, since he sits on the board. Some might say there is a conflict of interest. If so, how does one respond?

There has been the possibility of HIP's planned conversion to a profit-making company. But no one knows, under this merger, what does HIP have to offer for health care coverage for current and pensioning employees.

I implore anyone who reads this letter to question what kind of health-care coverage we have now. Also, to question whom the benefits of the GHI/HIP merger fall upon, and who benefits from a 1.5-percent giveback.

Mr. Toussaint might have a responsibility to GHI/HIP, but he also has a responsibility to the 38,000 members of TWU Local 100, which should have been first and foremost in his mind.

DANIEL PAGAN, Trackworker