Skip to content

Retirement

#PensionTheft: Public Workers Under Attack in Illinois

December 5, 2013 Jon Queally, www.commondreams.org ,
A critical vote for past, current, and future public workers is set to take place in the Illinois General Assembly today and if Governor Pat Quinn gets his way and deep cuts are made to the pension and retirement rules, critics worry that similar efforts to strip workers of their earned retirement benefits will be replicated nationwide. As in other states, Illinois pension shortfall comes not from over-compensating public employees but because the state perennially refused to contribute its share of revenue to the fund decade after decade. Now, according to Quinn and his supporters, the workers must be forced to endure cuts to their cost-of-living increases and other so-called "fixes" in the name of the "common good." Quinn, a Democrat, is poised to anger his labor base in the name of compromising on the pension deal—which they call "pension theft"—and it is Republicans in the state who might ditch the deal, but only because they say the cuts to workers don't go far enough. Not all Democrats, however, see the deal as a responsible fix with U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowksy calling on her state-level colleagues to reject the proposal.

Detroit Bankruptcy Approved By Court, Puts Retiree Pensions & Healthcare At Risk

December 4, 2013 Joseph Lichterman and Bernie Woodall, www.www.reuters.com , ,
A federal judge on Tuesday formally declared Detroit bankrupt, a landmark ruling that clears the way for potentially sweeping cuts to city worker pensions and retirement benefits and for steep and possibly precedent-setting losses to the cash-strapped city's bond holders. The ruling by U.S. Judge Steven Rhodes, who cited the city's dismal finances and $18 billion owed to a multitude of creditors in support of his decision, marks a watershed in the history of Detroit. Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, in a news conference after the court hearing, said the city will seek to file a plan of readjustment - the city's roadmap toward financial solvency - by early January. He said negotiations are continuing with unions "even now." Rhodes also said the city could cut pensions as part of the restructuring, ruling against an argument that Michigan's constitution protects them from being slashed. However, Rhodes warned he will not rubber-stamp any pension cuts.

Photos: Anti-Protest Bill & Austerity Cause Mass Protests In Spain

November 23, 2013 Alex Dunham, www.thelocal.es , , , ,
Draft bill calls for $800,000 fines for protests in Spain's Mass Protests Erupt in Response to Bill, Austerity and Bank Bailouts Unauthorized protesters outside the Spanish Parliament could soon be hit with fines of up to €600,000 ($810,000) while those selling drugs or offering sexual services in front of minors could face a penalty of up to €30,000.The move is part of a new Citizen Security bill drafted by Spain’s ruling Popular Party (PP) which is likely to be approved in Parliament in the near future. Social uproar in the form of harassment or insults will result in hefty fines of up to €600,000 if the PP’s parliamentary majority gives the law the green light. Aside from protesting outside government buildings, other “very serious offences” include publishing images/personal data of policemen online, interrupting public events and carrying out so-called escraches (demonstrations outside the homes and workplaces of political figures). Offences deemed as “serious” on the new bill include insulting or threatening policemen . . . .

Time To Push For Expanded Social Security, Not Just Protest Cuts

November 17, 2013 Staff, www.ncpssm.org , ,
We are pleased to see people protesting the threatened cuts to Social Security. And, we are pleased that some are beginning to advocate for what is really needed, a significant increase in how much money Social Security recipients receive. The retirement system in the United States used to be a three-legged stool, but changes in the economy have destroyed two of those legs for the vast majority of seniors. There are no more pensions and most people cannot save enough for retirement. These changes are changes in the economy, not the fault of workers. That leaves the majority of seniors relying solely on Social Security, with its meager $12,000 annual income. This only ensures poverty retirement, not retirement security. Doubling the Social Security payments would not only lift millions out of poverty, it would relieve families of unfair economic burdens and would be a major stimulus to the economy since retirees would spend the additional money.

Pension Theft Crime Wave

November 11, 2013 Mark Brenner, www.labornotes.org , ,
The nation’s union-haters have a juicy new target, Detroit’s public employees, ever since the city became the largest in history to file for bankruptcy. Detroit unions will wrangle with a bankruptcy judge this fall over how to handle $3.5 billion in pension obligations for 12,000 retirees. City retirees receive a princely sum of $19,213 per year on average. Pension obligations to these workers account for less than 20 percent of Detroit’s debt. But the facts haven’t kept retirees from bearing the brunt of the bankruptcy fallout. In fact, politicians across the country are seizing on Detroit’s hard times as an excuse to trim public pensions closer to home. For them—and for bankers angling for a piece of the action—this could be the breakthrough they’ve been waiting for. Lawmakers from both parties have climbed onto the same noisy bandwagon as right-wingers who complain that public pensions are too fat, ballooning out of control because of unions run amok. They throw in the fact that retirees are living longer, and tout the soon-to-be swollen ranks of retiring baby boomers, to add some statistical cover to their judgments and finger-pointing.

Bi-Partisans In DC Having Wrong Conversation On Social Security

November 11, 2013 Steven Rosenfeld, www.alternet.org , ,
A majority of Americans, especially women and people of color, will spend their final years living in poverty in coming decades unless Social Security is improved and expanded—not cut back as Republicans and President Obama seek—and there are many fair ways to accomplish that, experts told a congressional briefing last week. “Don’t listen to anyone inside the Beltway,” said longtime Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. She said she’s surveyed voters in every state and found Americans take a completely different view than Washington’s political leadership. “Real people are wildly in favor of Social Security, wildly supportive of it. And this is a voting issue in 2014.” “There is a retirement income crisis. It’s huge. Two-thirds of working Americans cannot maintain their standard of living in retirement—and that assumes they work until 65,” said Syracuse University’s Eric Kingson, co-director of Social Security Works, which convened the day-long session with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. “Somewhere in the discussion about Social Security we forget that its purpose is to assist the American people… The end is the kind of society we want; the kind of support we want.” Kingson and dozen other experts presented detailed plans on how Social Security can be modernized to better reflect real costs of living for the people it’s intended to help, from tens of millions of seniors, to students who lose a parent while in school.

The Plot Against Pensions

September 29, 2013 Staff, ourfuture.org , ,
This report evaluates both the general state of the national debate over pensions and the specific effects of the partnership between the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Sector Retirement Systems Project and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Here is a summary of the report’s findings: Finding: Conservative activists are manufacturing the perception of a public pension crisis in order to both slash modest retiree benefits and preserve expensive corporate subsidies and tax breaks. Finding: The amount states and cities spend on corporate subsidies and so-called tax expenditures is far more than the pension shortfalls they face. Finding: The pension “reforms” being pushed by conservative activists would slash retirement income for many pensioners who are not part of the Social Security system. Additionally, the specific reforms they are pushing are often more expensive and risky for taxpayers than existing pension plans.
«123»
assetto corsa mods

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here
Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.