Posted on 08/11/2002 9:05:11 AM PDT by areafiftyone
NEW YORK (AP) - Senator Charles Schumer is calling on President Bush to allow New York City to use federal emergency funds to help boost pay for police and firefighters over the next two years.
Schumer says the city would need to use only "a relatively small" portion of the $21.4 billion dollars in aid earmarked for New York to bring the pay raises up to the level demanded by police and firefighters. Starting salaries for police and firefighters begin at 31,000 dollars.
The state's Public Employment Relations Board is in the process of designing a contract for the police, who are demanding a 21.9 percent increase. Their contract expired in June 2000.
Fire department workers are waiting to see what kind of deal the police get before they decide how to move forward in negotiating their contract. They've been without a contract for the past 26 months.
Schumer also called on the federal government to release emergency funds to the city that could stem a growing tide of retirements.
Currently, police and firefighters receive a pension equal to 50 percent of their final 12 months pay.
Schumer said today he hoped to change the pension plan so that police and firefighters would be entitled to a pension equal to 50 percent of their highest salary over the past five years.
Schumer said today he hoped to change the pension plan so that police and firefighters would be entitled to a pension equal to 50 percent of their highest salary over the past five years. "
This is an interesting contradiction if you think about it. On one hand Chuckie wants to raise their pay, which is all right with me because I think they are underpaid. Then he turns around and wants to limit their pensions to 50% of their salary averaged over five years. Think about it. The last twelve months will normally be the highest salary one will earn in a normal career. Take a five year sample, which may include a promotion or two and cost of living hikes, and you effectively drive down the amount of the pension. So, which is it Chuckie? I guess you want to help the active duty folks and screw the retirees?
That is easily remedied by computing pensions on base pay amounts. Overtime is not valid. If, as you say, the pensions are calculated on total pay then you are correct, it is a scam.
Not necessarily so easy. How pensions are paid out varies from union to union and can even vary from local to local within the same union. Often the only thing (as an employer) that you get to do is make a pension “contribution” on the employees behalf.
So for example if you pay that employee $20/hr, there would be language that in addition to the $20 you will contribute 25% of the hourly rate toward pension and 5% toward health and welfare. So for every hour worked the pension would get $5 and h/w would get $1. So even though the employee is getting $20, you are actually paying $26.
After that, you often have absolutely no input as to what happens to that $5/hr pension contribution. You have no say in how it is paid out, no say in how payout amounts are calculated - nothing. You are literally just there to make the contribution and nothing more as far as they are concerned.
Like I said, pensions vary all over the place so it is possible in this case the “employer” may have some control over it but that isn’t typical from my experience.
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