An open letter to Freelancers Union

To all FU members.

We are circulating the letter below in an attempt to give a clear voice to our concerns.
If you agree with the content of this letter, PLEASE SIGN WITH YOUR FIRST NAME in the comment section of this post.

Please also circulate this letter to as many interested parties as you can. Including FU members, the press, and the underwriters of FIC, (including the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York State Health Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the New York City Investment Fund, Prudential’s Social Investments Program, and the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.)

Wishing you all good health.

Upset FU members.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Ms. Horowitz,

We, members of Freelancers Union, were seriously adversely affected by the recent changes in health care insurance offered by the Freelancers Union. We object to this move in the strongest terms.

We find the reasons offered to these changes to be vague and unsatisfactory. Unclear future benefits are promised in return for very real and immediate disadvantages.

We are further dismayed that no negotiation with Empire BC/BS has taken place to compare their terms with those of FIC side by side.

We find unacceptable the way new members, even those who signed on with Freelancers Union just a few days before the announcement, were not warned by FU reps that the plan they have joined is facing termination.

We object to the fact that there was no consultation with members regarding this move.

We doubt the ability of FIC to serve its members. Since the announcement, it has been almost impossible to get responses to specific questions about details of coverage, either by phone or by e-mail.

We are also offended by what we perceive as insincere talk about the "exciting, important, and meaningful effort," "solidarity" and the mention of "a survey" that had no mention in it of a new health insurance. Such talk diminishes the reservoir of good will that FU enjoys.

We would like to know why the underwriters of FU and FIC allowed this to go through.

We would like FU to quickly address the following:

• Whether you would be willing to negotiate now with Empire BC/BS for a benefit plan similar to the 2008 plan.
• And if you can't or won't, why not?
• If you can’t re-negotiate now with Empire BC/BS, would you allow your team to help us, as a group, to find a plan similar to last year's Empire BC/BS, especially the Direct POS plan, outside of the umbrella of FU.

In Sara Horowitz's own words, we "believe in the radical notion of fairness: we should all have access to the social safety net, regardless of how we work."