By DARRELL DRIVER, JIN PAK and KYLE JETTE New York Times December 27, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/opinion/military-pensions-are-essential.html?_r=1 Washington AS the nation’s budget pressures prompt officials to scour the Defense Department for cuts, one tantalizing target is the military retirement system. The Pentagon has reportedly been considering replacing the guaranteed pension that, for more than a century, hasContinue reading “Don’t Go After Military Pensions”
Category Archives: Public Employee Pensions
National Teachers Strike Possible in UK over Pension Benefit Reductions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/may/01/headteachers-strike-ballot-pensions-reform The largest union of head teachers in the United Kingdom may launch a national strike over a government plan to reduce pension benefits. The government proposals would raise the minimum retirement age to 68 from 60 and 65, increase contributions, and base the amount of the pension on the career income average rather thanContinue reading “National Teachers Strike Possible in UK over Pension Benefit Reductions”
From Connecticut to Chile: The Neo-Liberal Assault on Retirement Security (article)
Reposted from This Week in Sociology, April 4-10, 2011, edition 3 http://www.thisweekinsociology.com/ Since 1981 shaky 401(k) schemes that depend on stock market investing have increasingly replaced secure, traditional pensions in the United States. The financial services industry encourages a belief that these schemes produce generous benefits. But 30 years after their introduction, the first generationContinue reading “From Connecticut to Chile: The Neo-Liberal Assault on Retirement Security (article)”
Connecticut Public Employee Activists Fight for Pension Justice
Out of the limelight, public employee activists have achieved a near victory in their quest for a fair pension plan. However, fulfillment of a national precedent setting grievance award to allow Connecticut state employees to transfer from a defined contribution 401(k) type retirement plan into the state’s traditional defined benefit pension system has been delayed.Continue reading “Connecticut Public Employee Activists Fight for Pension Justice”
Why Employee Pensions Aren’t Bankrupting States by Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/06/109649/why-employee-pensions-arent-bankrupting.html?storylink=addthis WASHINGTON — From state legislatures to Congress to tea party rallies, a vocal backlash is rising against what are perceived as too-generous retirement benefits for state and local government workers. However, that widespread perception doesn’t match reality To read more, click here.
1. An Overblown Crisis for State Pension Funds by Zach Carter, Huffington Post
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/07/state-pension-plans_n_829112.html WASHINGTON — In early 2010, Goldman Sachs announced two blockbuster numbers: profits of $13.4 billion for the prior year and compensation of $16.2 billion — the equivalent of about $500,000 for each employee at the Wall Street titan. All of this lucre, of course, came courtesy of a massive federal bailout of Wall StreetContinue reading “1. An Overblown Crisis for State Pension Funds by Zach Carter, Huffington Post”
New York Times/CBS Poll Finds Strong Public Support for Public Employees, Their Pensions, and Right to Collective Bargaining
Despite a well financed right wing anti-public employee campaign that includes the attempt to take away collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin public employees, a just released New York Times/CBS national poll has found strong public support for public employees, their benefits, and collective bargaining rights. To read the article, click here.  The results of theContinue reading “New York Times/CBS Poll Finds Strong Public Support for Public Employees, Their Pensions, and Right to Collective Bargaining”
Q&A: Funding of State Pension Funds
Question:Â When you say the prior to the 1980’s, public pensions were funded in a traditional way, do you mean that the state governments simply put most of the funding in a fund as they went along, but then they started to put more and more of it into Wall St., so that after theContinue reading “Q&A: Funding of State Pension Funds”
The Fiscal Health of State Pension Funds by Iris J. Lav and Elizabeth McNichol (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
 The Fiscal Health of State Pension Funds: Misunderstandings Regarding State Debt, Pensions, and Retiree Health Costs Create Unnecessary Alarm Misconceptions and Also Divert Attention from Needed Structural Reforms (excerpts)  By Iris J. Lav and Elizabeth McNichol Center on Budget and Policy Priorities January 20, 2011 http://http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3372 [moderator: This report provides substantive documented informationContinue reading “The Fiscal Health of State Pension Funds by Iris J. Lav and Elizabeth McNichol (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)”
State Bankruptcy: A Right Wing Fantasy to Enable Confiscation of Employee Pensions
States currently cannot declare bankruptcy. If the right has its way, that would change, according to an article, (“A Path is Sought for States to Escape Their Debt Burdens,â€)  by Mary Williams Walsh in the January 20, 2011 New York Times. Walsh cites such right-wing politicians as Newt Gingrich and conservative media as The WeeklyContinue reading “State Bankruptcy: A Right Wing Fantasy to Enable Confiscation of Employee Pensions”