Union With Labor Dispute of Its Own Threatens to Cut Off Workers’ Health Benefits
The National Education Association, the nation’s largest union, is threatening to cut off health insurance to about 300 Washington, D.C.-based workers on Aug. 1 in an effort to end a bitter contract dispute.
NEA workers with pressing health needs are worried but say they won’t fold. Joye Mercer Barksdale, a writer on the NEA’s government relations team, said she needs coverage for a medical procedure to address atrial fibrillation, a cardiac disorder. “This is insane for the NEA to use our health benefits as a bargaining chip,” she said.
But Barksdale said the threat isn’t enough to force her to agree to an unacceptable contract. “I am not ready to give in,” she said.
Union With Labor Dispute of Its Own Threatens to Cut Off Workers’ Health Benefits - KFF Health News
The National Education Association, the nation’s largest union, told striking workers that their health coverage would be cut off Aug. 1 absent a deal on a new contract. Tensions have mounted after staff disrupted the union’s convention, at which President Joe Biden had been scheduled to speak.
kffhealthnews.org
