Below is a copy of an email obtained by www.lacityworkers.com from the Coalition of City Unions to it’s members.
It details the Slashing of 50% of our holidays, Removal of Cash Overtime, additional increases to member contributions, removal of bonus codes, uniform allowances, boot allowances, and YES Furloughs for it’s members.
In Short; it is Horrible for remaining workers, bad for retirees (they lose 1% of their pension) and bad for the city as a whole.
So who makes out?
City Council they get to spend our money elsewhere.
Mayor, he doesn’t look bad because of course he puts Public Safety first.
LAPD & LAFD, No one is fooled by this latest round of cutbacks, LAFD and LAPD are going to continue to enjoy their benefits, raises, 100% retirement benefits, all on the backs of our Civilian workers.
My back is broken from carrying so much weight, Civilian workers have to pay for the LAPD’s May Day beatings, their other ‘lawsuits’ that cost the city millions & millions of dollars, LAFD feeds dog food to it’s employees, and everyone involved sues and gets paid, and civilian workers have to pay for their misdeeds.
I say it’s time the City of LA tell the LAPD find the lawsuit money out of your own funds, When you lose a $3.8 million lawsuit because you beat Rodney King, Take a pay cut, When you beat television reporters and crews at a May Day parade, cost the city 13 Million, take a pay cut!
Here is the email, edited for truth and clarification.
Members will now contribute an extra 0.25% of their paychecks toward the City’s pension fund. ON TOP OF the additional 0.75 1.0% to start no Upwards Cap could go as high as 100% in final year to meet ERIP deadline Per the Contract, no maximum, no yearly limit, the only guarantee in the contract is 100% Full Payback of the ERIP no matter what.
Coalition claims This is a clarification of the original early retirement agreement, due to a mistake of the actuary, who failed to account for the roughly one-third of City workers who will not retire from the City, but will leave for other jobs before retirement. When they leave, they take their retirement with them, with interest. Segal will be asked to comment on their ‘mistake’, Since it is very rare that professional actuaries make these ‘mistakes’.
This 1.0% will be paid for no more than 15 years, OR UNTIL 100%, Of the Early Retirement Incentive Program (ERIP) is paid off in FULL.
Immediate elimination of the pre-1983 defrayal.
That means if you were hired before 1983 and contribute less than 6% toward retirement, your retirement contribution will Skyrocket to match the same 7% all City employees are going to make.
Retirees who take ERIP will lose 1% of their pension giving it back to the retirement fund.
Unpaid Furlough Hours: 79-hour pay period working one unpaid Furlough Hour per pay period Until July 2010 could be Extended depending on how large the raise increase and hiring of LAPD & the LAFD is.
Slash 50% of ALL holidays. 4-hour paid holidays, Workers will be able to use comp time or vacation time for the other four hours of pay or go unpaid.
Elimination of Uniform and Boot Allowance:
No Boot or Uniform Allowance until October 2010 on any boot and/or uniform allowances.
800 Club Slashed: Annual sick time payout deferred from January until August 2010.
The NO ERIP cash payout for participants Until, July 2, 2010.
The second payment will come on July 2, 2011, They still get paid from our increased contributions though.
NO CASH Overtime! No Exceptions! Overtime will only be compensated in time credited, not in cash. Usage of time credited still management discretion!
Eliminate bonus compounding. Workers receiving more than one bonus, e.g., bilingual pay and shift differential, and every other bonus have had one bonus compounded on top of the other, rather than both calculated on top of base pay. This major change will cost employees over $1.1 MILLION!
City Attorneys reimbursement for their dues to the California Bar deferred until 8/2010.
Why should I pay more just so long-time employees might retire?
We are facing the worst City budget crisis in memory. We are hoping 2,400 people retire or else we get furloughs and layoffs anyways, and we still have to take all the givebacks in the contract. Council, Mayor, LAPD, & LAFD our counting on US to giveaway everything we have struggled to achieve and all the gains we have made over the last 60 years so
THEY WONT HAVE TO GIVE UP ANYTHING! Council and mayor don’t want the public to know they misspent their money on parades and fee waivers or Lawsuits. They want to protect the City services everyone relies on at our expense.
We need to make sure our retirement is fully funded for the future, Vote no to save our pension!
The City has also committed to moving quickly to implement the terms of the agreement, the changes to the original ERIP, were forced onto us because the city council took a two-week vacation, and failed to approve the earlier plan.
A large meeting for all Coalition of LA City Unions members will take place, possibly at the LA Convention Center, in the coming weeks so members can officially vote to ratify the agreement. The specific meeting time and location will be announced early next week.
I want to take advantage of the early retirement program. What are the next steps with early retirement? Can I retire now? Will I get the benefits if this does not pass?
You could retire now. City Council is required by law to read the ordinance implementing the program one more time, in 30 days, but Council has already passed a motion saying City employees can take advantage of this program, BUT ONLY if it PASSES!
We can not make these deep of sacrifices or we will never get them back, remember giving up your one floating holiday? Some MOU’s gave up 4 hours on Christmas eve, only to get an 8 hour holiday we would have gotten anyways.
4 Year contracts with 0% While the cost of living made it a real world -12% We have sacrificed we have not enjoyed the protections that the LAPD has had for their contracts, nor have we cost the city anywhere near as much in lawsuits!
Tell the City Council and the LAPD to pay for the lawsuits out of their own pockets NOT OURS!