With Americans paying the price for ObamaCare in a big way, unions are beginning to feel the consequences for their actions in pushing the new health care law as well.
In Philadelphia, AFSCME members who have not had a contract for several years are seeing their health care costs increase as well, which also is putting a strain on the union’s health care fund.
As a result, with the holidays upon him, the City of Brotherly Love’s mayor, Michael Nutter, must be feeling extraordinarily generous with taxpayer’s money.
Mayor Nutter has agreed to advance $2.5 million to the depleted health-care fund of AFSCME District Council 47, while noting that talks to end a long struggle with the city’s white-collar workers’ union have been heating up.
Nutter agreed to front the money after recent face-to-face meeting with the newly elected president of the district council, Frederick Wright, who unseated Cathy Scott in a close election in September.
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D.C. 47, which represents about 4,000 social workers, accountants, and other white-collar employees, has not had a new contract since 2009, putting a strain on the union’s health and welfare fund.
Wright said his members were facing a possible doubling of their contributions to pay for health care. He said he was “very pleased” with Nutter’s decision to front the $2.5 million, which would be subtracted from any future contract.
“Basically, he asked and I said yes,” the mayor said. “We want to make sure our public employees – folks over in D.C. 47 – have health care and their bills are getting paid.”
