Tag Archives: Retirement

Important Update on Retiree Health Subsidy

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We will update you on the Los Angeles Police & Fire Pension decision and what it means to us as LACERS members. Including EAA members who will be voting on a new contract shortly. it is imperative that you plan on attending the next LACERS meeting on September 27th, 2011 10 a.m at the LACERS Board Room located at 360 E. 2nd Street, 8th Floor to seek the Boards assistance in resolving this issue once and for all.

First on the retirement health subsidy which the Coalition of City Unions pushed so hard for: We at LA City Workers.com have consistently maintained that the retirement subsidy is a Vested benefit which the city can not unilaterally take away.

LAFPP the Pension System for Sworn City Employees sought an outside legal opinion from a pension expert to receive guidance on the retirement health subsidy and at their meeting on September 15th, they reviewed a report by Christopher W. Waddell of the law firm Olson Hagel & Fishburn LLP in his report he concluded that both the Health Subsidy and the Future increase are a Vested right.Below is the

conclusion .

Conclusion

The retiree medical plan subsidy administered through the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System constitutes a vested right for current and retired sworn police and fire personnel and their qualified survivors. They also have a vested right to future increases in premium subsidies as determined by the LAFPP Board subject to the limits set forth in the Administrative Code since 2006.

What our contract says Will happen if the subsidy payment is found illegal:

The parties further agree that should Any provision of Section 10 or 11 of this
Agreement or any subsequent MOUs which incorporate these sections be declared
invalid or unlawful by a court of competent jurisdiction, the entirety of this Agreement or
MOUs then in effect shall immediately be reopened so that the parties can meet and
confer to achieve equal cost savings.

Coalition leaders used scare tactics to sell members of the Coalition of  LA City Unions on the retirement subsidy issue and now they are scrambling to tell us why they did it.  Using terms like “Iron-Clad language” and “protections” in the contract. Truth be told the union had a position from the start and even now after learning that we need to sue the City to maintain our Vested rights, they continue to push ahead on how good a job they did. 4% reductions in pay for the rest of our careers to pay for something which the unions should have challenged in court is our current situation.

Here are some facts about the Misleading information disseminated by the Coalition of City Unions, SEIU 721, AFSCME Local 3090, Alice Goff, and countless Stewards who were ignorant to the facts.

Facts

  • Coalition of LA City Unions relied on an ”entertainment industry labor lawyer” while the Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions System relied on a Pension Expert Attorney.

Interesting, but unless your going on Survivor or Dancing With the Stars, you’re better off picking the attorney who has the most experience with the issues at hand, Mr. Segall had No Comment and referred us back to the Coalition. According to the Coalition of City Unions, Mr. Anthony R. Segall attorney at law had the following legal opinion, ” that this was not a settled issue”

This is the first time we have had the coalition put in writing the opinion of the lawyer they referred to during the campaign. Unlike the LAFPP our Coalition failed to provide us with any legal opinion on the matter, and further refused repeated requests for either the law firm, or the opinion they based their decision on.

  • Coalition leaders originally claimed the health care subsidy was absolutely Not Vested only later revealing that it might not be vested.
  • Bob Schoonover on Saturday April 2, 2011 would only claim he had on behalf of SEIU 721 sought “several legal opinions”.
  •  Coalition literature uses the term Not Vested over and over and claims that the Iron clad agreement “vests retiree medical for the first time in the history of the city”
  • Members are Still required to meet the full vesting requirements prior to getting the two party coverage, some members will never achieve the full vesting regardless of how much they contribute.

Fiduciary Duties

Under Title V, union representatives are obligated to manage union business for the sole benefit of the members. Individuals who violate their fiduciary duty may be sued in federal court.Many members are now left asking what happens now?

Coalition of LA City Unions and the respective individual unions except the LACAA could be subject to a lawsuit for violating their fiduciary duty by not challenging the CAO on his opinion and bargaining tactics. Having a Valid Contract in place members should never have been subject to repeated contract modifications, voting on re-openers, and the acceptance of the removal of a vested right, one which the union never had the authority to bargain away, this creates a significant problem for the unions. Lawsuits are almost guaranteed at this point in order to protect the rights of the members.

Coalition Leaders Meet in Secrecy

On Friday September 16th Coalition leaders called together a meeting to discuss the issues raised by the latest information inviting only those whom they felt could represent the unions position in a positive light, they were given the unions explanation for the actions they took, and a few pointers in how to handle the blow back from this revelation.

Bargaining Teams to Meet

Signaling more trouble ahead the bargaining teams of all unions will meet soon to discuss the options the coalition has to bargain with the CAO, this troubles me as the bargaining teams have proven they are not capable of understanding the full range of options available to us, nor did they serve us well over the last few years making poor decision after poor decision when it relates to the best interest of the members at hand.

Furloughs and Layoffs

Furloughs and layoffs return to the table and ways to avoid them are few as the shortfall the City of LA needs to make up is significant and the City Council refuses to manage the budget always turning to the workforce to take the big hit rather then cutting back on it’s lavish spending.

Grocery Workers A Model To Follow

Having threatened and voted for a strike Grocery Workers made management accept the reality that the implementation of massive concessions would not be done without casualty preparing, voting, and authorizing a strike these members stood in solidarity to defend the middle class successfully. It is time for the Yes voters and their failed arguments to simply step aside and let us take charge of this situation because it is going to get ugly.

Map to Lacers 

Need a Short link to this post Use: http://lacity.me/mPFi7b

Why did the Coalition go beyond the CAO recommendation?

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Why did the Coalition go beyond the CAO recommendation?

Below is the CAO recommendation for adding a new tier for new hires.

Our Unions quickly said No to having new hires pay more and protecting us from increase, instead the ultra liberal unions wanted to ensure everyone suffer equally taking money out of our pockets.

No other union in the city would stand for that because the ONLY way they can make us pay more is if we allow them to!

We are protected by Federal and State law to prevent these abuses and the unions are not protecting us as they should.

You can’t blame the CAO or the Mayor if the union drops the ball.

Read it for yourself. I would vote NO on paying Double!

 

LA City Unions Early Retirement Allegedly Passed, Here comes the fun!

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SEIU Mission Accomplished

SEIU Mission Accomplished

SEIU Claimed (1) Victory and that all MOUS  approved the deal, this is still in question, and that the Early Retirement has Passed.

What does this mean for the workers of the City of Los Angeles?

How can this deal be passed if ALL unions have not completed their vote count?

What is in store for remaining workers if this deal is finally approved?

First, if 2400 People don’t retire, the union must find a solution to that problem and fix the shortfall layoffs will be the only tool left and that will be immediate.

Second,  the City of LA must begin to address the new Unfunded liability in the LACERS plan, this could cause a 100 Million shortfall triggering the Layoff clause in the contract, and finally all it takes is the layoff of one worker, How tempting would it be to layoff one worker on June 30,2011 before our first raise is due? SO they pay us our raises we were due and screw us out of the rest of the deal.

Third, Lawsuits, Count on them.  Hopefully people retiring don’t actually plan on spending their bonus money anytime soon, because Lawsuits can drag on long after many of these workers will have moved on to greener pastures.

Fourth, Bankruptcy, the very tempting relief from all those debts, retirees medical, our medicals, new employees will most likely be switched to defined benifit plans shortly, which would completely eliminate the possibility of current workjers ever enjoying any retirment boost similar to what current retirees will enjoy.

Finally, Workers will be making less, while those who retire early, will Enjoy a 3% Cost of living raise next year and every year for the rest of their life.

Almost forgot, for those who might not have remembered not only will the furloughs hit you very soon, so will the New State Tax Rate.

Glad we have a raise to count on in Two years.

Final Certified Results will be posted as soon as they become available.

(1) Charles Leone SEIU claimed “all mous voted, all unions have passed the erip”

City of Los Angeles new early retirement deal brings misery to workers if approved contract details.

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Below is a copy of an email obtained by www.lacityworkers.com from the Coalition of City Unions to it’s members.

It details the Slashing of 50% of our holidays, Removal of Cash Overtime, additional increases to member contributions,  removal of bonus codes, uniform allowances, boot allowances, and YES Furloughs for it’s members.

In Short; it is Horrible for remaining workers, bad for retirees (they lose 1% of their pension) and bad for the city as a whole. 

So who makes out?

City Council they get to spend our money elsewhere.

Mayor, he doesn’t look bad because of course he puts Public Safety first.

LAPD & LAFD, No one is fooled by this latest round of cutbacks, LAFD and LAPD are going to continue to enjoy their benefits,  raises, 100% retirement benefits, all on the backs of our Civilian workers.

My back is broken from carrying so much weight, Civilian workers have to pay for the LAPD’s May Day beatings, their other ‘lawsuits’ that cost the city millions & millions of dollars, LAFD feeds dog food to it’s employees, and everyone involved sues and gets paid, and civilian workers have to pay for their misdeeds.

I say it’s time the City of LA tell the LAPD find the lawsuit money out of your own funds, When you lose a $3.8 million lawsuit because you beat Rodney King, Take a pay cut, When you beat television reporters and crews at a May Day parade, cost the city 13 Million, take a pay cut!

 Here is the email, edited for truth and clarification.

Members will now contribute an extra 0.25% of their paychecks toward the City’s pension fund. ON TOP OF the additional 0.75 1.0% to start no Upwards Cap could go as high as 100% in final year to meet ERIP deadline Per the Contract,  no maximum, no yearly limit, the only guarantee in the contract is 100% Full Payback of the ERIP no matter what.
Coalition claims This is a clarification of the original early retirement agreement, due to a mistake of the actuary, who failed to account for the roughly one-third of City workers who will not retire from the City, but will leave for other jobs before retirement. When they leave, they take their retirement with them, with interest.  Segal will be asked to  comment on their ‘mistake’, Since it is very rare that professional actuaries make these ‘mistakes’.

This 1.0% will be paid for no more than 15 years, OR UNTIL 100%, Of the Early Retirement Incentive Program (ERIP) is paid off in FULL.

Immediate elimination of the pre-1983 defrayal.

That means if you were hired before 1983 and contribute less than 6% toward retirement, your retirement contribution will Skyrocket  to match the same 7% all City employees are going to make.

Retirees who take ERIP will lose 1% of their pension giving it back to the retirement fund.

Unpaid Furlough Hours: 79-hour pay period working one unpaid Furlough Hour per pay period Until July 2010 could be Extended depending on how large the raise increase and hiring of LAPD & the LAFD is.

Slash 50% of ALL holidays. 4-hour paid holidays, Workers will be able to use comp time or vacation time for the other four hours of pay or go unpaid.

Elimination of Uniform and Boot Allowance:
No Boot or Uniform Allowance until October 2010 on any boot and/or uniform allowances.

800 Club Slashed: Annual sick time payout deferred from January until August 2010.

The NO ERIP cash payout for participants Until, July 2, 2010.
The second payment will come on July 2, 2011, They still get paid from our increased contributions though.

NO CASH Overtime! No Exceptions! Overtime will only be compensated in time credited, not in cash. Usage of time credited still management discretion!

Eliminate bonus compounding. Workers receiving more than one bonus, e.g., bilingual pay and shift differential, and every other bonus have had one bonus compounded on top of the other, rather than both calculated on top of base pay. This major change will cost employees over $1.1 MILLION!
 
City Attorneys reimbursement for their dues to the California Bar deferred until 8/2010.

Why should I pay more just so long-time employees might retire?

We are facing the worst City budget crisis in memory. We are hoping 2,400 people retire or else we get furloughs and layoffs anyways, and we still have to take all the givebacks in the contract. Council, Mayor, LAPD, & LAFD our counting on US to giveaway everything we have struggled to achieve and all the gains we have made over the last 60 years so

THEY WONT HAVE TO GIVE UP ANYTHING! Council and mayor don’t want the public to know they misspent their money on parades and fee waivers or Lawsuits. They want to protect the City services everyone relies on at our expense.

We need to make sure our retirement is fully funded for the future, Vote no to save our pension!

The City has also committed to moving quickly to implement the terms of the agreement, the changes to the original ERIP, were forced onto us because the city council took a two-week vacation, and failed to approve the earlier plan. 

A large meeting for all Coalition of LA City Unions members will take place, possibly at the LA Convention Center, in the coming weeks so members can officially vote to ratify the agreement. The specific meeting time and location will be announced early next week.

I want to take advantage of the early retirement program. What are the next steps with early retirement? Can I retire now? Will I get the benefits if this does not pass?

You could retire now. City Council is required by law to read the ordinance implementing the program one more time, in 30 days, but Council has already passed a motion saying City employees can take advantage of this program, BUT ONLY if it PASSES!

We can not make these deep of sacrifices or we will never get them back, remember giving up your one floating holiday? Some MOU’s gave up 4 hours on Christmas eve, only to get an 8 hour holiday we would have gotten anyways.

4 Year contracts with 0% While the cost of living made it a real world -12% We have sacrificed we have not enjoyed the protections that the LAPD has had for their contracts, nor have we cost the city anywhere near as much in lawsuits!

Tell the City Council and the LAPD to pay for the lawsuits out of their own pockets NOT OURS!

V O T E   N O !

DEMAND A REAL VOTE

A FAIR AND HONEST VOTE

NO GAMES

NO VOICE VOTES

AND NO BS!

 

 

  Read more in our Discussion forums!!