THE CHIEF-LEADER welcomes letters from its readers for publication.
Correspondents must include their names, addresses and
phone numbers. Letters should be submitted with the understanding
that all correspondence is subject to the editorial judgment of this
newspaper. Letters can be e-mailed to: RSTEIER@RCN.COM or
mailed to: Richard Steier, Editor, 277 Broadway, Suite 1506, NY, NY
10007.

Slow That Pension Train

To The Editor:

As reported in The Chief (Dec. 26 issue), gubernatorial proposals to modify public-sector employee pension conditions and requirements are coming at the workforce with the velocity of a speeding freight train. With engineer overalls and lamp in place, Editor Steier has climbed aboard this racing locomotive with an eye to slowing down the process, so that a sound right of way may be found (Razzle Dazzle column, same issue).

Despite reasonable assurances that no one's public-sector pension is in danger, few would question that the time of crisis is at hand. Looming large is the fate of what many in labor call the unborn. Will future New York City and state employees bear the lion's share of sacrifice, while the benefits of incumbents are protected 100 percent by the grandfathering process? How will shared sacrifice work?

Largely unremarked in the dailies, The Chief has entertained consideration of these critical issues and questions and is again well ahead of the curve. David Sims (Nov. 28 article) set forth the ideas of Teresa Ghilarducci, author of "When I'm Sixty-Four." In her book, Ghilarducci outlines the failure of the 401K retirement model. In its place, she proposes a joint employee/ government matching program where funds would find reliable, safe and reasonable returns.

As to those who say, "why should I care about that, I'm in the public sector?" I urge you to heed Stuart Leibowitz's wise words on this subject. Stu has reminded us that private-sector pension issues must be solved. Failure to do so may cause many citizens to turn their wrath against the pension benefits of municipal employment, and lead in turn to support for measures to undo these hard-won gains. Just as we understand the globalization of world finance, publicand private-sector pension issues are inextricably linked, and cannot be easily separated. We must take a very hard and urgent look at all proposals for change.

RUSS SMITH