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Georgia Federation of Public Service Employees presents voluntary benefits offer to South Fulton council
Summary
A Georgia public‑sector labor organization described a voluntary membership package including life insurance, disability pay, home‑buyer assistance and local advocacy. Council members asked city staff to compare the plan to the city’s current benefits and to clarify lobbying and collective‑bargaining limits under state law.
Jennifer Saunders, president of the Georgia Federation of Public Service Employees, introduced the group’s leadership and asked the City of South Fulton council to allow the federation to offer a voluntary membership option to city employees.
The federation’s executive director, Raynard Burrell, summarized benefits that members would receive for a base dues level he said equals $20 per pay period. Those benefits the presentation listed included a guaranteed‑issue $50,000 life insurance policy, a $1,000 per month disability benefit for up to two years, supplemental insurance, an employee assistance program limited to three complimentary counseling sessions, scholarships, hardship grants and a home‑buyer closing‑cost program (the presentation cited $3,000–$8,000 in closing‑cost assistance and additional appraisal and warranty credits).
Alan Lee, the federation’s national director, described the group as a voluntary, nonprofit labor organization that seeks to give public employees an option beyond employer benefits. He said the group intends to “create opportunity and access for real collaboration with elected officials” and advised that the federation would engage in lobbying at the state level on issues that affect public employees, such as pensions and school funding.
Council members asked staff to compare the federation’s benefits to existing city benefits. City Manager Sharon Subadan told the council that staff performed a preliminary comparison and found multiple differences: South Fulton currently offers $100,000 of employer‑paid life insurance and substantially higher short‑ and long‑term disability coverage than the federation’s base offerings. Subadan said the city provides broader employee assistance program access and higher employer‑paid disability limits, and that some federation items (for example, certain life‑and‑dependent coverage specifics) were not fully documented on the federation’s website at the time of the presentation.
Council members also asked how the federation’s lobbying would interact with existing municipal lobbyists. Alan Lee said the federation would seek common ground and partner with municipal lobbyists on shared priorities. He and other federation representatives repeatedly said the federation would not seek collective bargaining rights in Georgia because state law does not currently allow broad collective bargaining for public employees; Lee characterized the organization’s role as “voluntary” representation and advocacy rather than statutory bargaining.
Councilwoman Helen Willis, who brought the presentation forward, said she supports giving employees a choice and indicated councilmembers would meet with the federation and staff for a follow‑up evaluation before any formal action.
Ending: Councilmembers did not take any binding action on the federation’s request at the April 22 meeting; staff agreed to perform and deliver a side‑by‑side benefits comparison and to provide further details on any legal or administrative concerns before the council considers any request to facilitate payroll deductions or formal recognition.
