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Committee forwards health-premium MOU amendments and new substance-abuse testing policy to full Board
Summary
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee voted unanimously to send 16 MOU health-premium amendments and a new substance-abuse testing policy to the full Board of Supervisors; city officials said the premium changes shift costs between employers and employees and projected net premium savings over five years.
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee on Oct. 10 voted unanimously to send a package of labor-contract amendments and a new substance-abuse testing policy to the full Board of Supervisors.
Mickie Callahan, representing the city in labor negotiations, told the committee the amendments alter the health-premium structure across 16 memoranda of understanding and are intended to "preserve competition among the health plans" and stabilize long-term costs. Callahan said employer contributions would increase by $18,000,000 while employee contributions would fall by $32,000,000, and added that "we anticipate will result in $14,000,000 lower over a 5 year period in premium costs overall." The changes were offered to unions through a joint labor-management committee; most unions accepted the offer, but several craft unions and SEIU Local 1021 had not signed on.
In a separate presentation, Emily Prescott, Senior Employee Relations Manager, reviewed nine amendments to the city's substance-abuse prevention policy. Prescott said the policy provides for post-accident oral testing and reasonable-suspicion testing for employees in safety-sensitive jobs, includes supervisor training and a confidential counseling pathway for employees who test positive. "This policy will go into effect on 07/01/2014," she said.
Supervisors asked staff to identify which unions had not yet accepted the health-premium changes and to clarify operational details of the substance-abuse program, including vendor contracts, test timing and how rehabilitation will be handled. With no public comment, Supervisor Katie Tang moved to transmit items 1–25 to the Board; Supervisor David Campos seconded, and the committee approved the motion "without objection."
The committee’s action sends the negotiated changes to the full Board for consideration and placement on the Board agenda. The committee record shows staff will return with implementation details and any outstanding union responses as those negotiations continue.
