Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade Commission inches closer to healthcare deal with unions

 

County commissioners are expected to ratify contracts with transportation workers, as well as general services employees and supervisors.

crabin@MiamiHerald.com

With three votes scheduled for Tuesday, Miami-Dade County government will be closer to reaching contract agreements with all 10 of its employee unions.

Commissioners are expected to ratify contracts with transportation workers, as well as general services employees and supervisors. Both unions have agreed to accept the restoration of a 4-percent healthcare concession and pay higher health insurance co-pays for doctor visits and prescription drugs.

That leaves pending agreements with the Police Benevolent Association, water and sewer workers and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. There is still time to sort those out because the county’s health insurance policy runs through the end of December.

A potential fight over a healthcare concession imposed on employees last year was averted earlier this year when the administration set aside $23 million to do away with the measure, which required employees to contribute an additional 4 percent of their base pay toward healthcare costs — bringing their total contribution to 9 percent.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s administration is still working with the three unions with pending contracts to redesign employees’ health insurance plans to avoid a 20 percent hike in dependent premiums.

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