Teachers Get Free Botox in Buffalo

The Buffalo public school system’s health insurance covers plastic surgery. There is no copay. According to BuffaloNews.com, the cost of the benefit rose from $1 million in 2004 to $9 million in 2009. That was 9 percent of the district’s total spending on health benefits for employees and retirees. According to Jordan Weissmann of The Atlantic, the union has said that it will be happy to drop the benefit in the next round of contract negotiations.

However, Buffalo teachers haven’t bothered to negotiate a new contract since the last one expired in 2004. Thanks to New York State’s Triborough Amendment, they don’t have to. The old contract automatically stays in force until the union reaches a new agreement. As the old agreement has lavish benefits and yearly 2.5% step increases, the union has no incentive to enter into negotiations with a city that receives 48 percent of its revenues with from what New York Governor Andrew Cuomo calls a “functionally bankrupt” state and might, for once, actually be interested in driving a hard bargain.

Comments (6)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Rusty W. says:

    How sweet it is.

  2. Devon Herrick says:

    Stories like these continue to reinforce the notion that public sector unions are costing taxpayers a fortune. Benefits such as this make little sense.

  3. Davie says:

    If teachers are going to get plastic surgery paid for I want their faces fixed in a scowl to ensure discipline in our next generation of youth.

    Why stop at botox? Let’s install eyes in the back of the head.

  4. Myrtle B. says:

    I may just have to take my wrinkles and shuffle off to Buffalo!!

  5. Brian says:

    Wow.

  6. Chicago Medspa says:

    It sounds exciting when we hear about enhancing or altering our looks to
    give ourselves new and refreshing identity.  Few years back it seemed
    impossible but with increasing demand of people across the globe and
    tremendously growing need of looking good, medical science has finally
    made it possible to alter the physical attributes of a human body with
    the help of chicago medspa.