Health Benefit Waiting Period Reduced for Wayne Township's New Employees

WAYNE, NJ – An ordinance was introduced during the Jan 4 town council meeting and was on the agenda for the Jan 18 meeting for final approval. It would reduce the health insurance eligibility waiting period for new employees from 90-days to 30-days, but Fifth Ward Councilwoman Fran Ritter pointed out that the ordinance would apply only for non-union employees. This is because changes like this for unionized employees would come through their collective bargaining agreements.

Ritter challenged this ordinance at its introduction, tying it to the ordinance that would've made the mayor a full-time employee. When this ordinance came up for the final vote on Jan 18, she challenged it from a different angle.

Ritter pointed out that this same change had not yet been applied to union contracts and wouldn't support the move unless new represented-employees get the benefit first.

According to Ritter, at the previous council meeting, Township Attorney Matt Giacobbe said that the terms were the same for the unions and that their bargaining units would also be getting the same insurance benefit waiting period of 30-days. Ritter said she requested the agreements and found that "the unionized labor agreements had all expired December 31st… they all expired with the 90-day waiting period."

"I don't feel right about this at this time and I will be voting no," Ritter continued. "I can't place non-represented labor ahead of represented labor… We have unions, and we have township employees represented by unions. They're our life's blood, they're what hold the house together, and I don't see this as right."

Giacobbe assured Ritter and the council that the change had been agreed upon with the other union members through a Memorandum of Agreement. The final contracts had not yet been signed.**BULLSEYE

"We are in the process of finalizing the PBA," said Giacobbe. "Our goal is to have it on your next agenda for ratification…You'll see the memorandum of agreement says 30-days."

According to Giacobbe, the Police Benevolence Association (PBA) – the union for the police rank-and-file and the Superior Officer's Association (SOA) – the union for the highest ranked members of the police – are always the first unions whose contracts are negotiated first. He said that it is because they are the largest union and other unions do not want to negotiate until they are done."

Ritter, a lawyer herself, said the ordinance was "misplaced," and wouldn't support it until she had proof that the unions had this same change first.**STANDARD

"I'm all in-favor of helping attract employees and get employees here," she said. "But the bottom line is you don't have these agreements agreed with the union labor."

Giacobbe said that he is the one who does the negotiations with the unions and has been doing it for 20 years. He tried to reassure Ritter that the same waiting period change is in the memorandum of agreements with the unions and will be a part of their contracts. He also stated that non-union employees are not treated differently and that "they are all valuable employees."

Ritter was not moved and, in the end, cast the only no-vote to the ordinance that passed with a vote of 8-1.**BULLSEYE

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Jon "Ferris" Meredith Contributed to This Article