captainktainer t1_j0z98ke wrote on December 20, 2022 at 2:58 PM

Headline should read "Mayor to Retired City Workers: Drop Dead!" Can't imagine why we're having a massive recruitment problem in city government when this is how you can expect to be treated after you've put in your time.

Karrick t1_j0zdguq wrote on December 20, 2022 at 3:28 PM

Recruitment and retention problem. What the hell is my incentive to stay? Is my pension next? Are they going to take the money I've paid into that and tell me to fuck off?

Babhadfad12 t1_j0zst8z wrote on December 20, 2022 at 5:10 PM

Considering NYC does not have the power to issue new USD, default risk is always be a concern for the lender (or creditor), which is proportional to the political pull of the deferred compensation recipients.

Karrick t1_j0zuttw wrote on December 20, 2022 at 5:22 PM

The issue in this case is not the viability of the investments, it's "will the union give away my rights to the pension I paid into at some point in the future?" Because that is the precedent they are setting here.

Babhadfad12 t1_j0zv7xp wrote on December 20, 2022 at 5:25 PM

For the recipient, the effect is the same. Call it agency risk instead of default risk. There is plenty of history where deferred compensation agreements such as retiree healthcare and defined benefit pensions were renegotiated.

Karrick t1_j13myei wrote on December 21, 2022 at 12:53 PM

I suppose the effect is of the same nature, but this is a complete abrogation of the agent's responsibility. This is the union saying "yeah, even we don't care about the benefits you're promised." It is entirely reasonable to not expect your agent to pull that shit.

Dont_mute_me_bro t1_j13fldk wrote on December 21, 2022 at 11:33 AM

ERISA laws would prevent that. Nothing wrong with protesting and organizing over a real loss in deferred compensation (retiree benefits) but conflating it isn't helpful.

Karrick t1_j13imzw wrote on December 21, 2022 at 12:08 PM

1, There are explicit exemptions for government retirement plans in ERISA. I'm not an expert, but surface level research says that state/local government plans have more leeway in accounting and reporting practices and are not insured by the pension benefit guaranty corporation.

2, central to the point of this is that the union leadership is telling members to encourage their representatives to change the law to allow for reduced benefits. Even if there are ERISA protections from members now the union leadership is attempting to remove them in the future.