Mayor Bloomberg has proposed that New York City unions add a Tier V to their pension system to reduce the city’s pension contribution for new employees as part of an effort to close the budget gap. A Tier V member would receive fewer retirement and health benefits than any other union member. One variation of this proposed new Tier includes a 401K, which would provide a volatile savings plan, as opposed to a guaranteed pension, for workers.

Working in concert with the NYS AFL-CIO, Local 237 has lobbied aggressively to prevent the mayor from creating this additional retirement tier. Labor’s position is that workers should not be punished for the sins of corporate greed. Local 237 President Carl Haynes has publicly voiced his opposition several times to this new tier. Read the facts below to learn the real story.

NYS Pension Facts -- Time for the Truth State and local governments from across the state which are facing huge budget deficits are blaming much of the problem on higher than expected pension costs with the implication that overly generous pensions are at fault. It's a convenient argument but the real FACTS tell a different story.
MYTH	Public employers have been paying their fair share into the retirement fund. It seems like municipalities get hit again and again when times are tough. Due to poor planning, public employers essentially made NO payments into the state retirement fund for more than a dozen years. At first it was a short-term response to fiscal problems at a time when the fund was adequately funded. Then in the Wall Street boom of the 1990's, the fund was so spectacular that public obligations became simply a "paper" transaction. From 1998 through 2002, localities paid an average of only .5 percent per year to the retirement fund -- well below the historical average of more than 10 percent during 1980-1995.
MYTH	The state shouldn't have enacted the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for pensioners. We're paying now for the shortsightedness of our political leaders. The COLA was an appropriate measure and was long overdue. The COLA provision was the first increase in pension benefits since 1998. According to the state comptroller, the cost of these provisions amounts to less than one-fifth of the required increases.
MYTH	State employees have it made! Public employees have lavish pensions and receive huge checks each month -- why should they get so much? The average annual pension for all retirees and beneficiaries in the Employees Retirement System is currently $14,716. No one is getting rich off these pensions.
MYTH	Why should I have to pay for the pensions of public employees? Increases in retirement costs have forced property tax increases and cuts in services. It's not fair. Public employees have earned their pensions and shouldn't be penalized for the volatility of the financial markets or because a few corporate executives ripped off companies the pension fund invested in. Public employees have contributed significantly out of their paychecks so they can maintain a decent living and have health insurance when they retire. If employers had paid into the fund all along, the impact now would not be so severe.
MYTH	If the pension fund were managed better, we wouldn't be in this mess. According to an August 2003 report from the state comptroller, $9 billion of the retirement fund's $15 billion portfolio loss is directly attributable to the corporate accounting scandals! Greedy and irresponsible actions cost taxpayers billions of dollars but we don't hear a peep from the public demanding accountability. Instead, there is public employee bashing. The real anger should be directed toward corporate CEOs who ripped off companies in which pension funds were invested.