by rondelord | Aug 12, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Politics, Unions
CITY HALL — An ongoing fight over disability pension reforms for uniformed city workers has put a spotlight on the process that enables a huge percentage of retiring police officers and firefighters to claim such benefits. “When you’ve got a system...
by rondelord | Aug 12, 2015 | Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Unions
Kelly Gottschalk was a month into her job as director of the Dallas police and fire pension fund when the latest numbers started arriving. She knew there’d be problems. But things were heading from bad to worse. It came just as her staff and consultants were...
by rondelord | Jul 25, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Labor, Pensions, Politics, Unions
Mayor Greg Stanton said Phoenix plans to appeal a judge’s ruling this week that found the city illegally took away a pension benefit from its public employees. More than 20 years ago, Phoenix agreed to let some of its employees — such as secretaries and 911...
by rondelord | Jul 25, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
Last time around, Chuck Reed seized the third rail of California politics – launching the Hugest! Pension! Battle! Ever! – and suffered the inevitable burn. This time around, he’s more circumspect, but perhaps no less menacing to the status quo. Reed, a low-key...
by rondelord | Jul 13, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
When Jim Palermo was serving as a trustee of the village of La Grange, Ill., he noticed something peculiar about the local police officers and firefighters. They were not going to live as long as might be expected, at least according to pension tables. After Mr....
by rondelord | Jul 13, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Unions
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s latest offer to solve the state and local pension crisis appears to give Mayor Rahm Emanuel a healthy chunk of what he wants — but not all of it. It includes an offer to lift the financial hammer hanging over Chicago taxpayers: a state-mandated,...
