What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon
Before I get to my problem I'm curios about a few things that I've always been a little ticked off about
1. When the company I work for(Safeway) hires a new employee there is no mention about being forced into a union or having to pay a monthly fee. So quite frequently we get new hires and they have no clue that they HAVE to sign up and pay and it isn't until months down the road when they receive a letter stating "You owe us X amount, either pay up or loose your job". Shouldn't someone explain this to people BEFORE they are hired?
2. For a union employee after your first 6 months they automatically start taking money out of your check for health insurance with out any permission or input from the employee. And on top of that no information is given to the employee about their health insurance. So they'll go ahead and take your money but don't send your insurance card and info unless you call and specifically ask for it. And being that Safeway management is non union they have no idea who you should contact about your insurance. An employees only hope is that there happens to be a union card with their phone number sitting in the break room(quite frequently there isn't)
And then now to my problem and I hope you are still reading this. And this is a cut and paste from a lawyer referral service form I filled out on the oregon bar website(I received and automated reply referring me to a lawyer in another city that I have no transportation to get to)
In June I received a letter from my union that basically said something along the lines of "We screwed up with your money and don't have enough on hand to keep the policy going so effective next month we're increasing your monthly contribution and cutting your benefits." I had less then a week to reply as to whether or not I wanted to cancel my insurance or pay an increased amount for health insurance that was already so horrible that I couldn't use it. The letter also stated that If I did nothing it would continue to cover the same individuals it currently did, being just me with NO spouse or children. My contribution was supposed to increase from $11 a week to $24 but instead they've been charging me $34 a week(the cost of the plan if you have them covering a spouse and or children.)
I've been suffering from depression for some time now and facing a bankruptcy on top of it. And I've been unable to seek any medical help for me depression because of my lousy insurance coverage. My depression has prevented me from trying to get them to correct the problem until today when I called them asking for them to fix the problem and start charging me the correct amount. They were completely unwilling to fix the problem and said they were going to keep over charging me until the next open enrollment in July.
I then contacted my employers payroll service center asking if they could stop giving my money to this force union health insurance, being that I never gave anyone permission to take it from my check to begin with(When I first got hired there was no employee contribution, the insurance was completely paid by employers contribution until all of a sudden one week they just started taking money out) My employer then informed me that they have no control over it what so ever. They have a contract with this trust that lets the trust take out what ever they want from my paycheck.
Is there anything at all I can do legally?
Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance for anyone who takes the time to read it.
Before I get to my problem I'm curios about a few things that I've always been a little ticked off about
1. When the company I work for(Safeway) hires a new employee there is no mention about being forced into a union or having to pay a monthly fee. So quite frequently we get new hires and they have no clue that they HAVE to sign up and pay and it isn't until months down the road when they receive a letter stating "You owe us X amount, either pay up or loose your job". Shouldn't someone explain this to people BEFORE they are hired?
2. For a union employee after your first 6 months they automatically start taking money out of your check for health insurance with out any permission or input from the employee. And on top of that no information is given to the employee about their health insurance. So they'll go ahead and take your money but don't send your insurance card and info unless you call and specifically ask for it. And being that Safeway management is non union they have no idea who you should contact about your insurance. An employees only hope is that there happens to be a union card with their phone number sitting in the break room(quite frequently there isn't)
And then now to my problem and I hope you are still reading this. And this is a cut and paste from a lawyer referral service form I filled out on the oregon bar website(I received and automated reply referring me to a lawyer in another city that I have no transportation to get to)
In June I received a letter from my union that basically said something along the lines of "We screwed up with your money and don't have enough on hand to keep the policy going so effective next month we're increasing your monthly contribution and cutting your benefits." I had less then a week to reply as to whether or not I wanted to cancel my insurance or pay an increased amount for health insurance that was already so horrible that I couldn't use it. The letter also stated that If I did nothing it would continue to cover the same individuals it currently did, being just me with NO spouse or children. My contribution was supposed to increase from $11 a week to $24 but instead they've been charging me $34 a week(the cost of the plan if you have them covering a spouse and or children.)
I've been suffering from depression for some time now and facing a bankruptcy on top of it. And I've been unable to seek any medical help for me depression because of my lousy insurance coverage. My depression has prevented me from trying to get them to correct the problem until today when I called them asking for them to fix the problem and start charging me the correct amount. They were completely unwilling to fix the problem and said they were going to keep over charging me until the next open enrollment in July.
I then contacted my employers payroll service center asking if they could stop giving my money to this force union health insurance, being that I never gave anyone permission to take it from my check to begin with(When I first got hired there was no employee contribution, the insurance was completely paid by employers contribution until all of a sudden one week they just started taking money out) My employer then informed me that they have no control over it what so ever. They have a contract with this trust that lets the trust take out what ever they want from my paycheck.
Is there anything at all I can do legally?
Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance for anyone who takes the time to read it.