|
Post by fakelottotix on Dec 4, 2013 8:45:22 GMT -5
This story is directly tied to todays Newsday story about the record amount of money spent on this years County Executive race...did Suozzi even campaign for himself? We are at the epicenter of one of the major battles in a changing tide in America and it is being fought in silence. The billionaires are taking full control and politicians like Ed Mangano and Chris Christie are raping the working class unions and trying to destroy them so that we can all be treated like Walmart employees and President Obama is destroying our healthcare system so we will become dependent on the government, all while the rich get richer. We need a national police union to come together and fight back en mass.
|
|
|
Post by redstone14 on Dec 4, 2013 11:53:11 GMT -5
If I lost my pension I could/would apply for the various welfare programs that are available to me, and have more benefits/ income than I now receive. Sounds crazy, but its true…. Pretty sad to even think about. The way things are going, there will be no taxpayers left to pay for welfare.
|
|
|
Post by opie on Dec 9, 2013 16:44:27 GMT -5
This is what Mangano wants. Bankruptcy voids all union contracts. I don't care if the pba says they can't file for bankruptcy. Nothing is set in stone these days! They can't file for bankruptcy. Nassau lives on it's credit rating and if the bondholders take a haircut they'll have to pay 15% to borrow money. There is no such thing as "they can't " in today's world.
|
|
|
Post by ncpdretired on Dec 9, 2013 17:50:38 GMT -5
Opie, There is no such thing as "they can"t" in todays world because that schmuck in Washington says "YES WE CAN" and the son of a bitch is proving it…...
|
|
|
Post by opie on Dec 9, 2013 19:51:24 GMT -5
Opie, There is no such thing as "they can"t" in todays world because that schmuck in Washington says "YES WE CAN" and the son of a bitch is proving it…... Yup I agree but the attack on UNIONS is coming from corporate funded politicians. No political party is the friend of the people. All they want is more power and control of our lives.
|
|
|
Post by coots on Dec 10, 2013 0:38:09 GMT -5
Register-Star NY Hudson Newspapers
Detroit Ruling Opens Threat to NY Worker Pensions
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A federal bankruptcy court’s decision in Detroit last week putting that city’s constitutionally protected public pension on the table for cuts cracks the door open for pension reductions in New York. The concern among unions is that the assurance that New York’s public workers have operated under since 1938 that pensions “shall not be diminished or impaired” could now be threatened by local governments fighting off insolvency.
“It’s a turning point. ... What has been sacred pensions are not sacred anymore,” said Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, who has been a leader in seeking action to save New York’s distressed municipalities from insolvency. That has so far been avoided through higher taxes and layoffs and reducing services.
The Detroit decision could give struggling municipalities leverage in negotiating other concessions to avoid bankruptcy court.
Miner said Albany where politicians’ campaigns benefit greatly from organized labor’s money, volunteers and votes will also have to take notice. She and some other local leaders have long sought far more action from Albany, including relief from unfunded, state-mandated programs.
Now, inaction could drive a municipality to bankruptcy for relief and be worse for unions.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has determined at least 23 cities, counties and towns from Niagara Falls to Nassau County are significantly or moderately stressed. Seventeen others from Erie County to the Adirondacks town of Newcomb are “susceptible” to stress.
In November, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law to allow Rockland County to borrow $96 million to address its deficit, even as county taxes rise to help meet the shortfall.
“While municipal bankruptcy has never happened in New York, it is clearly not beyond the realm of possibility,” said Peter Baynes of the New York Conference of Mayors. He said the state must help more because the problem bleeds beyond city lines.
The stressed New York municipalities share many of the same pressures as Detroit: Aging communities losing population, leaving diminished tax bases strapped by a legacy of growing health care and pension costs from historically large public workforces. The result has driven away employers and young New Yorkers.
For some, the judge’s decision to make Detroit’s pension fair game came as no surprise. They saw it happen 40 years ago, and it helped save New York City from bankruptcy.
With New York City facing default, United Federation of Teachers union President Albert Shanker met with Gov. Hugh Carey in the apartment of Richard Ravitch, who Carey brought in to prevent the city’s bankruptcy. They agreed pensions would have to be on the table to negotiate a survival short of that.
The reality that entering bankruptcy would end the constitutional protection of pensions “was critical ... we never would have gotten the unions,” said Ravitch, who later served as lieutenant governor. He and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker issued a nonpartisan task force report in 2012 that said states are grappling with long-term budget problems, including pension costs.
Unions representing nearly 2 million public workers and retirees statewide, most with pensions of $20,000 to $43,000 a year, say the Detroit decision is cruel, unfair and unnecessary in New York.
“This was a ruling that should send chills through every working American,” said Stephen Madarasz of the Civil Service Employees Association union, which represents 265,000 members. “It really suggests that any semblance of the social compact is dead.”
Madarasz said he fears the ruling will be used at the negotiating table as leverage by “unscrupulous” politicians.
“They will probably do that at their own peril,” he said.
Illinois has already trimmed some retiree benefits, and Stockton, Calif., has cut the cost of retiree health care.
“This should remind them of what Hugh Carey was reminding city workers 40 years ago,” said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank. “That all bets are off.”
The state comptroller who is the sole trustee of the state pension fund said history shows New York’s pension members should feel secure because the state’s fund is fully funded, as opposed to Detroit’s city pension.
“Even in the unlikely event of a bankruptcy, New York’s public pensions shouldn’t be affected,” DiNapoli said Sunday. “For more than 90 years, the more than 3,000 participating employers have consistently paid the required contributions necessary to fund the benefits for employees and retirees in return for their public service.”
|
|
|
Post by redstone14 on Dec 10, 2013 1:28:19 GMT -5
Let's keep our fingers crossed.
|
|
|
Post by coots on Dec 10, 2013 1:38:52 GMT -5
ncpdretired is keeping his fingers and toes crossed...he can't afford to lose a penny.
|
|
|
Post by coots on Dec 10, 2013 15:47:24 GMT -5
I can only hope that retired guys aren't thrown under the bus by being made to pay into their Nass. County medical with premiums no matter how small it may be. If it weren't for the small COLAS they get every so often they would be on Food Stamps and Welfare.
|
|
jp2765
Participating Member
Posts: 27
|
Post by jp2765 on Dec 10, 2013 18:29:04 GMT -5
Anyone who doesn't seriously consider taking the Partial Lump Sum Option may need to have their head examined.
The Bill that will increase the maximum PLOP from 15% to 25% was delivered to the Governor on 12/06.
|
|
|
Post by ncpdretired on Dec 10, 2013 18:51:33 GMT -5
That COLA comes to about $12 to $15 a month more in my pension. Almost enough to cover the rise in gasoline tax…..
Is this a great country or what!!!!
|
|