VIDEO: Police and Fire Speak Against Pension Changes
On the eve of a final vote on Jacksonville, Florida’s pension reform, police officers and firefighters spoke out against the plan saying it will do nothing but hurt them, because current officers and firefighters and new hires will have to pay more into the pension program.
The city called it shared sacrifice.
Officer Michael Taylor, who has been with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for 17 years, was shot on the job. He doesn’t buy the concept of “shared sacrifice.” He said to get less than what was promised is unfair.
“We hear all of this about shared sacrifice,” Taylor said. “I’ve shared. I’ve given enough. In 2001, while protecting the city, I was shot twice while protecting the city. I almost lost my life. I gave up a lot. In the end, I ended up losing my family over this whole thing, so if you can sit in a meeting and say ‘shared sacrifice,’ ask how many people have been shot on their job there and have lost their family, and I think you could say very few.”
Others said the city-approved pension deal would make it difficult to recruit new officers and that it’s a slap in the face for current officers.
“Morale is at an all-time low,” Officer R.T. Weeks said. “There’s not a lot of trust right now. There’s not a lot of good faith, but we still continue to do our job.”
READ MORE about the hearing and how the vote is likely to go.
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