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Letter from the President
Improvements to state pension system are overdue
By CHRIS DUGOVICH
Chris Dugovich
Council 2 President/Executive Director
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WITH THE addition of labor-friendly representatives to the State Legislature, it is time to look at significant improvements to our State pension system.
It is really too bad that pensions are not bargained at the table as our other benefits are. If, for example, the Collective Bargaining Act would have passed into law before the state pension system we would all be better off.
But, as a result of the way it evolved, local government has wrapped around its neck a cumbersome partisan process that has control of its most important benefit. It’s a program that time and time again is not allowed to be improved, even when extra money exists in the retirement fund.
It’s not right—it is money that is ours and, as is the case with the vast majority of retirement plans, we should have a real say in how it is used.
During the coming legislative session, Council 2 will spend a lot of time in Olympia attempting to improve the pers system. It’s a slow process that involves small steps, such as gaining the rule of 90. We will be at our friends’ doorsteps and that includes the governor.
We expect their help.
Your help is also a necessity. Let your elected representatives hear from you that public employee pensions are a priority. That is our compensation that we have earned and for which we have negotiated over the years.
Give them a call at 1-800-562-6000.
Let them know.
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