Weekly News – Oct. 28, 2013
Phoenix council votes against curbing pension ‘spiking.’
In Phoenix, city leaders are struggling to rein in what they consider abusive practices by some employees, including the ability of senior-level managers to include cell phone plans and car allowances in their pension calculations. There are arguments to be made on both sides – where do you stand on the issue?
Pension alert is issued in Chicago budget talk.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed a new spending plan, but it doesn’t come close to addressing the full pension liability that the city will face in the near future. Cities across the nation are facing similar crises, but practical solutions have been in short supply.
‘Hands off our pensions,’ say hundreds of Detroit city workers.
Hundreds of retirees and city workers in Detroit protested outside of Detroit’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy hearings. Workers feel that they are being unfairly asked to pay for the mismanagement and corruption of the city’s leadership. In a related story, proposed pension cuts are so drastic that retiring Detroit firefighters may end up eligible for food stamps. How hard will it be to get young people to sign up for a career risking their lives with that kind of retirement ahead of them?
Pension reform: City of Long Beach workers will contribute more.
In Long Beach, California, the city council has approved new union contracts which will quadruple some employees’ pension contributions, raise the retirement age, and create a lower benefit tier for new hires. They estimate that these drastic measures will only reduce unfunded pension liabilities by about a third, from $1.1 billion to $700 million.
Dane County judge refuses to throw out Act 10 law.
Dane County Circuit Judge John Markson has rejected a challenge to Act 10 from the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association. (Act 10 is the 2011 law that struck a blow against collective bargaining for many public employee unions in Wisconsin.) Do you think continued rulings like this will make it impossible to fight back, or do we still have options?
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