By Independent News
UC Livermore Retiree Group has
raised nearly $75,000 toward its legal fund goal of $100,000 but continues to
hope that it will not have to file suit against the University of California to
force readmission of former Livermore Lab employees to UC health plans.
Joe Requa, head of UC Livermore
Retiree Group, advised members that legal advisors had made an offer at a
reduced rate to evaluate potential claims and chances of success if a lawsuit
becomes reality. He will poll contributors to the legal fund to find out
what they think of the offer.
In the meantime, representatives
of an informal steering committee that includes members of Livermore Retiree
Group as well as other Livermore Lab retirees met with the UniversityÕs general
counsel. The meeting came two weeks after the same retirees briefed the
full UC Board of Regents.
The briefing was prompted by
Lieutenant Governor and Regent John Garamendi, who has taken an interest in the
retireesÕ plight and who is also a candidate for the 10th Congressional
District seat vacated by Ellen Tauscher.
Manuel Perry, a Lab retiree who
helped brief the Regents, said that the July 30 meeting with UC general counsel
Charles Robinson was Òvery respectful.Ó
He is confident that Robinson
and staff Òheard what we were saying, which is that we hired into the
University, we retired from the University and we want to be back in the
UniversityÓ for group health plan coverage.
Perry expressed his appreciation
for GaramendiÕs effort to be sure the retireesÕ viewpoint reached University
management.
Lawrence Livermore Lab employees
and retirees were able to use UC benefits, including group health care plans,
under a succession of contracts that lasted more than 50 years. Beginning
in 2008, a new contract moved retirees out of UC plans but promised benefits
Òsubstantially equivalentÓ to UCÕs.
A year later, however, the new
contractor, Lawrence Livermore National Security, used a health consulting firm
and insurance broker to move most retirees out of group insurance into
individual plans that stand to become less secure and more expensive as
retirees age.
Manuel Perry, one of the
retirees who briefed Regents, expects to hear back from UC general counselÕs
office Òin the next couple of weeks.Ó
In another matter of interest to
UC employees and retirees, a constitutional amendment to end University
autonomy, making its governance subject to legislative control, was effectively
sidetracked when state senate president pro tem Darryl Steinberg moved the
measure from the education committee to the legislative rules committee.
As a constitutional amendment,
the measure would have to be approved by two-thirds of legislators and then put
on a public ballot. It was proposed by state Sen. Leland Yee of San
Francisco and several others who criticize UC management practices, but
strongly opposed by the University.
The legislature is scheduled to
leave for vacation on Sept. 11. Given the current economic turmoil it is
all but impossible for the measure to be resurrected before then, according to
one assembly spokesperson. Unless it is referred out of the rules committee for
legislative action, it will die in the committee at the end of next year.
A spokesman for Yee continues to support the proposal, but the logic behind the measure Ð the claim that the state would force better management on the University Ð has been undermined by the stateÕs never-ending financial crisis and recent reminders that the University can borrow money at lower rates than the state can because its credit rating is higher.