BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Board of Directors
The Labor/Management Health Care Coalition of the Upper Midwest is governed by both Labor and Management representatives of the Coalition’s membership. In addition, the LMHCC’s Executive Committee includes its Executive Director and Legal Counsel.
Labor Trustees
Jim Hansen, Co-Chair
IUOE Local #49
Mike Cook
Bricklayers Local #1
James Monroe
MN Association of Professional Employees (MAPE)
Don Seaquist
UFCW Local #789
Management Trustees
Gary Thaden, Co-Chair
MN Mechanicals Contractors Association
Trace Benson
Old Dutch Foods
Jon Ewing
HiMEC Mechanical
Nathan Moracco, Director
Employee Insurance Division
MN. Management & Budget
Affiliate Trustee
Joan Braun
Director of Operations
LMHCC of Wisconsin
Independent Trustee
Mary Jost
CEBS
Emeritus Labor Trustee
Bob Deroy
Consulting Legal Counsel
William (Bill) Ecklund
Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon & Vogt
LMHCC are members of the:
National Business Coalition on Health (www.nbch.org)
National Labor Alliance of Health Care Coalitions (www.nlahcc.org)
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (www.ifebp.org)
Staff
Doug Rubbelke
Executive Director of the Labor/Management Health Care Coalition of the Upper Midwest
Citing his long-standing experience with unions and his work with health benefits management and multi-employer trusts, the Board of Directors of the Labor/Management Health Care Coalition of the Upper Midwest has named Douglas Rubbelke its Executive Director. Rubbelke assumed leadership of the Coalition in November, and serves as the Coalition’s full-time Director managing programs and member relations. The Coalition is a nonprofit organization that helps labor and management health and welfare trust funds purchase competitively priced health care programs. The Coalition, in Roseville, serves approximately 50 trust funds that represent more than 350,000 union workers and their families in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Peter M. Rosene, an attorney specializing in Taft-Hartley Multi-Employer Trusts states, Rubbelke was a great choice for Executive Director. He helped mastermind the Midwest Teamsters Health Reimbursement Arrangement, the first such Taft-Hartley trust in the nation. He understands the need to leverage the use of data, group purchasing power, and health care branding to empower purchasers. He is committed to health care reform through an unyielding commitment to quality. His vision and dynamic leadership style will serve coalition members well. Richard Williams, labor attorney in St. Paul, stated Rubbelke is thoughtful, firm, polite and mindful of the interests of all parties. Endorsements from recent employer relationships include Randy Lebedoff, Legal Counsel for the Minneapolis Star Tribune; Doug is a very strong and able leader, and Marc Chrismer, Director of Labor Relations at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, I co-chaired the St. Paul Pioneer Press Labor/Management Committee with Doug. It was a true pleasure working with him. Doug pursued a non-conflict approach and looked for win-win solutions.
Prior to joining the Coalition, Rubbelke, a resident of Woodbury, MN, began his 38 year career in the newspaper trade, most recently representing union members at the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press in the Twin Cities. He was elected to 3 terms as President of the Teamsters local that primarily represented Newspapers, Printing and Electronic Media. He served as VP for the National Newspaper Conference and as President of the Inter-Plant Council of Newspaper Unions of the Twin Cities, a networking group of 8 unions with 30 labor representatives. During his tenure with the Teamsters, he doubled the size of his local union and created the MW Teamsters HRA Trust, one of the first national Teamster HRA trusts in the country. As Chairman, he quickly grew the Trust to more than $8 million. Sue Mauren, President of MN Teamsters Jt. Council 32, states, “I have had the opportunity to work with Rubbelke for a number of years, both in his capacity as union officer and as Chair of the Midwest Teamsters HRA. Doug has shown tremendous leadership in both of these positions. His concern for the health care needs of Teamster members led him to take the innovative approach of developing an HRA. He then took the initiative to expand the HRA beyond his local union, adding participants from not only the Teamsters, but also other unions throughout the country! He has been visionary in his approach to health care, searching for solutions to the problems we face in providing affordable, quality health care. I believe the Coalition made an excellent choice in choosing Doug as Director; he will bring his creative approach to health care to this position and is a hard working and dedicated individual.”
Rubbelke’s experience with multi-employer trusts and his vision for better health care for working families positions the Labor/Management Health Care Coalition of the Upper Midwest for future long-term growth to become a strong presence for serving employers and unions.
