Brothers and Sisters,

Let me first apologize for the tardiness on the update for this information page. Beginning right before Thanksgiving I developed a terrible medical issue with my back that pretty much put me out of commission for a while. I am very happy to report that I had surgery on January 3^rd, 2023 and am doing much better. That being said when I reported to Fresno Community for my Pre Op I was notified by the receptionist that Anthem Blue Cross our PPO Provider and Community Medical Group were at an impasse on their negotiations and that it was possible that I would have to pay out of network costs related to my surgery and subsequent Dr. Appointments. It seems that Community Medical Group is wanting to increase Anthem Blue Cross Costs. But of course as anyone in enough pain would do I went ahead with the surgery under those pretenses. I have since read several articles in Local Media regarding the Impasse and several of our members that I have spoke to learned that we may file for an extension with Anthem so the out of network costs will not affect us. I, along with those members I have spoken to, have attempted to call Anthem Blue Cross regarding the extension but keep getting put on hold and have been unable to receive any instructions. I have contacted our Trust Administrator and asked them to look into this for us and I have just received the paperwork we need to complete to request an extension. Please contact the Local if you need this paperwork and or have any questions.

Thank you to everyone who came to the LU294 Holiday party. Even feeling miserable I had a great time and I hope you all did as well. Hope to see everyone there next year.

SCT 1 was just completed in Fresno on 1/14/2023 at the Doubletree Downtown Fresno. We had some minor issues with the Hotel’s internet service but we managed to get through the Class. Thank you for everyone that attended and for your active participation and professionalism while in the Class.

Negotiations

We will be negotiating our Painting and Floor Covering Master Agreements in 2023 that includes the Fresno Area Addendums to those Master Agreements. Please show up to our regular Union Meetings the First Tuesday of each month for input and updates. We will have craft specific meetings as well for the Addendums once the Master Agreements are completed and Ratified.

Regards,

Jeffery B Roberts
Regional Director
DC16/LU294