MLC Leader to Governor: Tier 5 Pension a Loser

USA Photo by Robert Bishop HE CAN USE THE SHOVEL: Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association President Harry Nespoli (left) presents Governor Paterson with a baseball cap and shovel during a meeting where the union leader, who also chairs the Municipal Labor Committee, voiced his objections to the Tier 5 pension proposal put forth in Albany at Mayor Bloomberg's request.

Municipal Labor Committee Chair Harry Nespoli met with Governor Paterson Feb. 3 to express city unions' concerns over budget cuts and his proposed changes to the pension system, but Mr. Paterson offered no commitments because he is waiting to see how much help will be provided by the Federal stimulus package.

"As far as his response, he ran down his budget, which is devastating, but he did not give me any commitments," Mr. Nespoli said. "He said he has to see what comes out of the Federal Government."

Mr. Nespoli described Mr. Paterson as being "backed into a corner" with a budget deficit of more than $13 billion for the state fiscal beginning April 1, but said the Governor seemed receptive to labor's requests.

Harsh Words for Tier 5

The MLC chair told the Governor that the proposed Tier 5 of the pension plan, which would force uniformed city employees to work for 25 years and until the age of 50 and other state municipal employees to work until 62 in order to receive a full pension was a "disgrace."

"Tier 5 is work longer and cut your wage annually," Mr. Nespoli said. "Everybody thinks a regular pension is a golden parachute. If you're lucky enough to make it to retirement, inflation eats up the whole pension."

He said the Governor's reaction was muted, largely because so much is riding on how much aid will be coming from Washington as part of an $820-billion plus stimulus package currently before Congress. "The problem is that the pieces aren't in place yet," he said.

And just as Albany is waiting on relief from Washington before making decisions about its budget, the city is waiting to see how much state aid it can expect, with Mayor Bloomberg threatening to lay off nearly 15,000 Teachers in a worst-case scenario.

Doubts Layoffs Are Coming

Mr. Nespoli remained skeptical that there would be layoffs, saying that politicians are "painting the picture." "This is the best municipal workforce in the country; why would you want to jeopardize that?" he asked.

Mr. Nespoli reiterated that municipal workers should not bear the brunt of the pain, which resulted from astronomical losses on Wall Street. He said his members never really gained from the boom times because raises at best kept pace with inflation, but they are now facing layoffs and in the case of state workers, salary freezes.

"We know these are tough times, but we should not have to suffer," he said.