by Ron DeLord | Jun 6, 2016 | Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
Pensions are good. Pensions are worth preserving until something better comes along. But pensions that make impossible promises and cultivate lies are not the pensions we should hope for. If you are fortunate enough to have a pension these days (and you’re probably...
by Ron DeLord | May 31, 2016 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
Fully recovered from a financial crisis during the late 2000s, Miami commissioners are finally restoring the pay and benefits they unilaterally stripped from their employees in order to balance their books — and giving budget crunchers heartburn in the process. Taking...
by Ron DeLord | May 31, 2016 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
On May 10, the Arizona Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could provide a roadmap to eliminate a persistent form of government waste in nearly all 50 states. At issue is the practice of union release time, which allows government employees paid time off...
by Ron DeLord | May 31, 2016 | Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
So if you don’t live in Irwindale, rejoice: There, even when you look at it through rose-colored glasses, public pension liabilities equal $32,447 for each and every household in the city. Slap on a skeptic’s glasses, and that load skyrockets to $134,907 per...
by Ron DeLord | May 31, 2016 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
WESTERLY — A member of the Westerly Town Council who has worked as a financial planner for 33 years says the town’s police pension plan is one recession away from calamity. “I believe the police pension will go into critical condition in the next economic downturn,”...
by Ron DeLord | May 31, 2016 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
John F. Street, Lynne Abraham, and Sylvester Johnson are long gone from city government, but certainly not forgotten. In fact, taxpayers continue to send each more than $100,0000 a year for their former service as mayor, district attorney, and police commissioner,...
