Firefighters' bodies take a prolonged beating during 20, 30 or 35 years of service and when they retire, they can experience medical problems caused by exposure to chemicals and the stress of always being ready to respond when the alarm sounds. Houston residents rely on the fire department's fast response times, aggressive firefighting tactics and highly trained EMTs and paramedics to handle the city's daily emergencies. Firefighters gave concessions, paying more into the fund, scaling back sick leave and numerous other benefits in exchange for lowering the city's unfunded future liability. Mayors Brown and White, along with Mayor Annise Parker as a council member and city controller, changed the Municipal Employee and Police Pension Funds, borrowed against and underfunded them and now the city wants to take over the Firefighters Fund to do the same. [...] when the house of cards fell, elected officials didn't blame themselves or the people responsible for causing the recession, they blamed the public employees and their pension funds or collective bargaining contracts for the budget shortfalls. Changing a firefighter's retirement from the current defined-benefit plan to a defined-contribution, 401(k)-style plan will leave several thousand current and future retirees wondering if enough new employees will join the department to pay for the retirement benefits that already have been earned.
donate a car in illinois donate your car chicago car donations in maryland
No comments:
Post a Comment