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Labor group responds to state report on public employee benefits on eve of negotiations

DES MOINES – AFSCME Iowa Council 61 issued the following statement regarding the release of a “Benefits Review” by the Branstad Administration:

“This report is an attempt to mislead Iowans about public employee compensation. The fact is that a study by the non-partisan Iowa Policy Project found that even when accounting for benefits such as health insurance, public employees in Iowa receive six to eight percent less total compensation than their private sector counterparts with similar levels of education. Time and time again, AFSCME members have chosen to accept lower wages at the bargaining table in order to preserve health benefits. We have also worked with the state to encourage state employees to enroll in managed care plans that cost the state less money than other current plans that require a 15% payment,” said AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan.

“The Branstad Administration’s misleading and unjustified attacks on public employees are an attempt to distract Iowans from Terry Branstad’s record of failure as a Governor. Since Terry Branstad took office, 15,000 less Iowans have jobs and the Governor has only achieved 0.4 % of his family income goal,” added Homan.

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You can read the executive summary of the report here.

You can read the entire report, here.

The Des Moines Register reported today that “The report – released just weeks before negotiations with state unions begin – is the first state benefits review of its kind. It calls for state employees to pay 20 percent health care premiums, the elimination of indemnity plans and increased deductibles. Taken altogether, the plans would save the state $116,260,000, mostly in employee contributions and a reduction in benefits.”

 

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