Posts tagged Pension
Opinion: John Moorlach: AB 1383 is a costly pension mistake in the making
August 21, 2026 // Assembly Bill 1383, introduced by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood, would increase pension benefits for public safety employees — allowing earlier retirement with higher payouts — while reducing the contributions those employees are required to make. The bill provides no new funding to cover these expanded obligations, which would further destabilize the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and local government budgets.
Opinion: I was NYC’s first female lifeguard chief. Here’s a way to save lives.
August 10, 2026 // For nearly two decades, the roles of citywide lifeguard coordinator and president of the city’s lifeguard supervisors’ union were held by one man, Peter Stein. During my time as a chief lifeguard, I watched as Stein abused his privileges and retaliated against those who opposed him, all while the Parks Department turned a blind eye. Last year, Stein finally retired — and the city has a chance to fix what has gone wrong.
NYC lifeguard ‘Boss of the Beach’ scores $570K pension on taxpayers’ tab: report
August 7, 2026 // A controversial former Big Apple chief city lifeguard nicknamed “Boss of the Beach” raked in a staggering $570,419 pension last year, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit government watchdog. Ex chief lifeguard and union boss Peter Stein’s taxpayer-funded golden parachute comes after a longtime dual career where he also served full-time as a middle school gym teacher In Brooklyn — calling it quits while under investigation by the city Department of Investigation.
Broadway Cleaners Vote to Authorize Strike: “What This Fight Boils Down to Is Respect”
July 7, 2026 // The strike vote marks the first time the more than 250 cleaners, who are a part of the 32BJ of Service Employees International Union, have voted to authorize a strike in 18 years. Talks with the Broadway League, which represents their employers, the theater owners ATG, Nederlander, Shubert and Circle in the Square, are ongoing, but the Broadway cleaners say the two parties are still far apart on several issues, and the current contract has expired.
Union claims 3 striking PECO workers injured on picket lines; company calls claims ‘false’
July 5, 2026 // The workers - including linemen, gas technicians, mechanics and call center employees who serve millions of customers across five counties - walked out at the start of the holiday weekend and amid an ongoing heat wave.
Opinion: Hochul’s biggest failure in her budget deal with NY lawmakers
June 18, 2026 // Hochul and state lawmakers gave retroactive pension increases to the state’s public-employee unions, which will increase state and local costs more than $500 million annually. They offered extra aid to ease fiscal distress in New York City, Buffalo, Albany, Yonkers’ public schools and elsewhere, so they too could avoid economizing (or, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani would bemoan nearly any spending reduction, suffering “austerity”).
PECO union “overwhelmingly” votes to authorize strike as contract negotiations continue
June 2, 2026 // Members of the union representing about 1,600 PECO workers voted Saturday to authorize a strike. The move would give union leaders the power to call a work stoppage if ongoing contract negotiations fail to produce an agreement. A spokesperson tells CBS News Philadelphia the strike was "overwhelmingly" approved with 94% of the votes in favor. More than 1,000 members voted. As of now, there are no plans to walk off the job Saturday.
Reason: Union Summer
May 21, 2026 // They're at it again: Yesterday, the unions representing the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) workers reached an agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad. It's not yet clear what's in the agreement, but the demands of the striking workers were rather extraordinary: Pay raises of 5 percent, plus three years of retroactive raises since their last contract was hammered out in 2022. This might make sense if they were destitute, but they are not: "More than 325 Long Island Rail Road workers are raking in over $100,000 a year in overtime on top of their lucrative salaries, with 11 of them netting at least twice that huge figure in OT," reports New York Post (below yesterday's perfect headline: "Gravy Train").
Hochul proposes $500M pension sweetener as she battles unions in budget stand-off
May 11, 2026 // Still, whatever deal is struck is likely to put a major strain on local governments, schools, public hospitals and law enforcement — which risk a mass exodus that could lead to service cuts. The cost of Albany’s public pension giveaway will also translate into higher property taxes and school taxes for New Yorkers.
Commentary: Even socialist NYC mayor Mamdani can’t satisfy the teachers union
April 13, 2026 // Mulgrew has already threatened to try to kill the entire state budget unless it includes revisions to the Tier VI pension rules enacted in 2012, demanding a rollback that would allow teachers to retire earlier without massive penalties. He declared, “If we don’t have the significant fixes in Tier VI, then vote the budget down.” The changes would cost local governments, including New York City, hundreds of millions of dollars a year in higher pension contributions.