Protest at the PMA: A busload of ILWU members and pensioners from Local 13 drove all night to protest at PMA headquarters on the morning of April 9. They were joined by Pensioners and members of ILWU Locals 10, 34, 75 and 91.
Dozens of longshore workers joined with ILWU officers on the morning of April 9 in San Francisco to tell waterfront employers: “Stop fooling around with our health benefits and start paying our medical claims!” Dozens of Local 13 members made their point by travelling all night on a bus from the Los Angeles harbor area to the headquarters of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) on Market Street in San Francisco where they were met by Pensioners and members of ILWU Locals 10, 34, 75 and 91.
ILWU International officers, Coast Committeemen, Coast Benefits staff and local officers greeted members as they arrived and thanked everyone for joining the protest.
“Members and pensioners have every right to be fed-up with all these delays and denials when it comes to paying legitimate medical bills,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath who mingled with members in front of the PMA headquarters. “We won’t tolerate any members or pensioners being abused by a claims processing company that can’t do their job properly.”
McEllrath then led a delegation of ILWU officers up to the third floor of a high-rise office building where PMA executives were braced inside with officials from Zenith American Solutions, the controversial claims processing company that was handpicked by the PMA and sanctioned by the Coast Arbitrator, over the vehement objections of the ILWU. The company that the Union Trustees wanted to select to replace CIGNA for processing medical claims had a much better reputation for working well with Taft-Hartley Healthcare Plans, according to Coast Benefits Specialist John Castanho. He said the problems ILWU members are currently experiencing with claims processing are the same issues that have been experienced by other healthcare plans managed by Zenith in the past.
In the meeting inside PMA’s office, ILWU officials confronted PMA and Zenith executives, demanding that they end the delays and red tape that have frustrated so many families because of unpaid or delayed medical bills. As ILWU officials pressured Zenith and PMA on the inside, members outside grew restless. At one point a large group of ILWU members left the plaza and headed up to PMA’s offices where they filled the hallway, making their presence known, and sent company officials scurrying in response to the commotion.
The protesting members eventually left the PMA office entrance after making their point, as did ILWU officials after several hours of meeting to demand action steps by Zenith to address the claims processing problem.
By the end of the meeting, it was agreed that Zenith would deploy more staff and send a delegation of claims processors to meet in person with concerned ILWU members and pensioners at Local 13’s dispatch hall.
“We intend to hold the PMA and Zenith accountable and take care of the mess they created for so many of our families with unpaid medical bills,” said ILWU Local 13 President Chris Viramontes. “Having all that pressure on the inside and outside made a difference on April 9.”
When Zenith claims processors came to the Local 13 hall in mid-April, they got an earful from angry members with unpaid medical bills, some of whom brought piles and files of unpaid bills with them. Local 13 member and Caucus Delegate Frank Ponce De Leon had firsthand experience with the frustration caused by Zenith’s bungling of his family’s medical bills.
“My son needed an important operation that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills that Zenith refused to pay,” he explained, noting that some of the bills were heading to collection agencies that could compromise his credit rating.
“It’s a mess that has to be straightened-out fast,” he said. De Leon got his chance to keep up the pressure because he was one of 81 Longshore Caucus delegates who met in San Francisco on April 15-19, where they discussed plans to keep pushing PMA and Zenith to fix the problems and pay members’ medical claims.
According to Dan Imbagliazzo, Southern California Area Representative for the Coast Welfare and Pension Benefits Committee, the problem started when employers chose Zenith to handle claims processing for the ILWU-PMA Coastwise Indemnity Plan.
The union wanted another company to do the job, but PMA refused, so the matter had to be resolved by Coast Arbitrator John Kagel who sided with the company’s preference for Zenith. Imbagliazzo says he has received many reports that Zenith lacked enough staff to handle the claims for ILWU members and Pensioners. “That’s something they promised to fix, but people want to see more results and fewer promises from Zenith,” he said.
Local and International union officials will be monitoring Zenith’s work to see if there are signs of progress or further problems. Earlier this month, President McEllrath asked International Vice President Ray Familathe and Coast Committeeman Ray Ortiz, Jr., to attend Local 13’s “stop-work” meeting so they could gather the concerns of members. Familathe and Ortiz, Jr., listened respectfully as many members came forward to voice their complaints and frustrations with medical bills that were not being paid by Zenith.
“The PMA is responsible for fixing this mess and we intend to hold their feet to the fire,” said President McEllrath.