Verdict: Our May 3 Healthcare Forum has Kickstarted MA Labor Community’s ACA Conversation

 Above: Steve Tolman at the podium welcoming the attendees. Moving L-R, Mary Jane MacArthur, Director, Laborers Health & Safety Fund David Brenner, Sr. VP, Segal Company; Jen Springer, General Counsel, SEIU Local 888, Bill Jaeger, Director, HUCTW. Below: ACA Forum Plenary Session at IBEW Local 103’s Main Hall. Photos: Rand Wilson.

The MA AFL-CIO and the Labor Guild offer our warm thanks to all who spoke, presented and attended our ACA Labor Healthcare Forum on Friday, May 3rd at IBEW #103 Hall in Dorchester.

We were delighted with the audience and the laser-focused quality of the half-day exchange. The Forum delivered great information, fresh updates and analysis, and a lively and substantive discussion on what is known–and still unknown–about the Affordable Care Act’s impact on collective bargaining on healthcare for Massachusetts’ union members and their families. The audience was thoughtful, serious, savvy and wonderfully engaged in the plenary and breakout sessions. 

Sincere thanks to our wonderful presenters and panelists for the superb information and keen insights they provided about the law.  There were three Breakout Sessions for Taft-Hartley, Single Employer/Collective Bargaining, and the Public Sector, with robust discussions of how ACA is impacting bargaining in that sector now and in the near term, potential positive and negative consequences, and what steps may be needed to avoid or mitigate “the bad stuff.”  There were strong recommendations for taking collective action.

Plenary Session: Three Keynote Speakers:
 David Brenner, JD , Senior Vice President, Segal Company, Boston MA.
 Mary Jane MacArthur, Director, Laborers Health and Safety Fund of No America, LIUNA, Washington DC
 Karin S. Feldman, Esq. AFL-CIO, Legislative & Policy Specialist l Employee Benefit/Social Insurance

Presenters and panelists include:
Steven A. Tolman, President, MA AFL-CIO
John Brouder, Partner, Boston Benefit Partners
Francis X. Callahan, Jr., President, MA Building Trades
Louis F. Malzone SEIU Locals 615/888 Funds; IUOE Local 877 & 70 Health & Welfare Funds;
President, Mass Coalition of Taft-Hartley Fund Administrators
Jennifer Springer, SEIU Local 888, General Counsel
Richard Charette, President, UFCW 1445
Peter Knowlton, President, UE Northeast
Roger Gill, Administrator, Plumbers Local 12 Trust Funds
Rolland Goff, Staff Attorney, MNA
Andy Powell, Field Representative, AFT-MA
Bill Yaeger, Director, HUCTW (Harvard University Clerical & Technical Workers)

Many thanks to our good friends at IBEW Local 103, who hosted this event, Michael Monahan, Business Manager, and his members, officers and staff for their advice, gracious welcome and practical assistance.