Page 12 - November 2017 Magazine

Retiree Healthcare
Dec. 31 is just about here, and every- one should have received their healthcare packet from AETNA, Labor First and Ullico private exchange. Hopefully you had time to compare the plans with the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan that the City mailed to ev- ery retiree. We believe you will see the ben- efits of the AETNA plan are more cost-ef- fective. The call centers were up and
running for Oct. 17 informational meetings
on the North side and South side. We sent out
email blasts and had a pull-out in the Octo-
ber newsletter. We are going to have an open enrollment in January to capture anyone who might have slipped through the cracks. This was
a huge undertaking and we have heard from oth- er City employees who were left with the City Blue Cross Blue Shield as the only option, asking if they could get into our AETNA plan. Unfortunately, we were not able to offer them the plan.
This was, by far, the cheapest shot the Mayor could have delivered to all City workers. How about the retired Police and Firemen who, for 30 years, risked their lives every day speeding to crime, fire and emergencies? How many first responder widows are only getting 50 percent of their spouse’s pension and now have to find insurance? The retired laborers, who spent 30-plus years picking up the garbage, re- pairing the streets and keeping the street lights on; the retired workers who kept the water flowing, the sewers draining and the streets plowed; how many of these retirees, crippled and sick from their jobs, are now searching for insurance? We, as retired City workers, get double taxed. Our property taxes have been increased; our gas, electric and water bills have gone up; and now we have to pay 100 percent for health insurance. The only aldermen who are work- ing to fix the problem are Napolitano (41), Sposato (38) and Waguespack (32). They were looking to find the money to restore our retiree healthcare. We don’t know how successful they will be, but they should be thanked for their efforts.
Our cause still has a little life in front of the Illinois Supreme Court and, even if you don’t have faith in the system, this is all we have at this point. There will be a place and time to express rage for the dam- age inflicted on us and our families. There will be an election for Mayor in two years and we will have a
12 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2016
chance to pay Rahm back in spades. There won’t be any question that we will come out to the polls in droves.
COPA
Sharon Fairley has testified at the City Council budget hearings that she is going to retain 66 of the IPRA investigators and hire 40 more – the same investigators who have more than 1,100 open cases – the same investigators who have not made a finding in any Police shooting that oc- curred in 2016. What was not said is how many of the 66 investigators also worked for the old OPS. What Fairley did not testify to is how she is going to make people who have been incompetent under two agencies suddenly become fair investi- gators who complete investigations in a reasonable amount of time. Call this new agency what you will, but retaining the same investigators is a disservice
not only to us but to the citizens of Chicago.
More Police haters
Take a minute to drop a line to the latest band of idiots to emerge. The “campaign to end the death penalty” at P.O. Box 25730, Chicago, 60625, or visit their website at www.nodeathpenalty.org. They sent out a request to IPRA to investigate the injuries of Parta Huff.
Huff is the guy who crashed his car into a store at Roosevelt and Cicero and attacked the Police Officer when she arrived to investigate the crash. The dash cam and body cam videos were released to the pub- lic and you can see how out of control this offend- er was. He fought with the Officer and then all the responding Officers, and it took six Officers or more to finally subdue him. The first Officer is still in the hospital as of mid-October, recovering from the sav- age beating he gave her. This group is not concerned about the injuries suffered by the responding Offi- cers and is complaining about the offender’s treat- ment, excessive Tasing and abusive language used by the responding Officers.
I wish everyone a safe and great Thanksgiving. d
GREG BELLA
RECORDING
Secretary