Budget Talks Beg Collective Bargaining ???
By Margaret Carrero
Following up on a story we brought you Wednesday on KMJ, a move is afoot in Sacramento to eliminate the power of organized labor to collectively bargain for pension benefits.
As lawmakers delve into their budget talks, we take a closer look at the issue spurred by a similar move underway in Wisconsin.
State Assemblyman Allan Mansoor is well aware that his bill, AB 961, which seeks to repeal collective bargaining for public employee pensions, will likely not pass the Democratic-led legislature, but he told KMJ's Ray Appleton on Wednesday, "I think the public knows that we need pension reform and they see it as a major part of solving the budget crisis."
That's because the current system which guarantees pensions -- many at 100% of retirement -- cannot be sustained.
Mansoor says, "It's leaving us with billions in unfunded pension liabilities..." which ultimately leaves taxpayers on the hook because those monies are taken out of the general fund, producing the trickle-down effect in which funding has to be reduced for other things like public safety, schools, and the like.
As for potential legal ramifications should it pass, San Joaquin College of Law Professor Barry Bennett says the labor unions can't do much if the legislature removes pension benefits from negotiations.
Bennett notes, however, "There is a great body of law in California saying that pensions themselves are a fundamental vested benefit for employees that can't be taken away, unless something else is substituted for them.."
State Senator Mimi Walters is pushing to switch from a defined-benefit to a 401k-style pension for new public employees.
Reprinted with permission by KMJNOW.com