ATTENTION BCEA MEMBERS!!!!
Like Bush, Schwarzenegger Wants Secure Retirement to be a Thing of the Past
Rather than try to solve the problems facing California's workers, like the skyrocketing cost of health care or the need for good jobs, Governor Schwarzenegger has made privatizing your pension his top priority. In his State of the State address on January 5, 2005, Schwarzenegger proposed a constitutional amendment to ban the secure defined benefit plans currently enjoyed by public employees in California. Republican Assemblyman Keith Richman has a bill to make traditional defined benefit plans illegal in the public sector. A similar initiative is being sent out for signature gathering and will likely appear on the November ballot. What is at stake here is the promise of a secure and dignified retirement that union members and their families have counted on for generations.
The pension privatization plan jeopardizes all California workers by prohibiting guaranteed retirement plans, and mandating that retirement funds go into unpredictable private investments. Instead of basing retirement compensation on years of service, the Governor and his friends in the legislature want to make workers gamble their future on the ups and downs of the stock market. Under their plan, a worker could spend 30 years contributing to a retirement fund, and with one bad investment, could lose it all.
It is clear that working families lose with pension privatization, but who wins? The money manager who will make a fortune investing worker pensions on Wall Street. Profits to financial managers will also be generated by the doubling of administrative fees charged for maintaining the investments.
Make no mistake, this pension proposal is an attack on every working family in California. Not only will the pension overhaul undermine secure retirement, but it will also eliminate death and disability benefits for the families of police officers, firefighters, and public employees who are killed in the line of duty. This mean-spirited, anti-worker proposal seeks to undo one of the major achievements of the labor movement - the right to a secure retirement. It will also prevent any future improvements to retirement by freezing our current 2%@55 benefit, and make defined benefit plans illegal for public employees.
As we saw with the recent lunch break take-away, the Schwarzenegger administration seems determined to erode worker protection while claiming to give workers more "choice." The Governor claims that retirement privatization would simply allow workers to choose how to invest their money. The response to these private plans in other states, however, suggests that when workers are offered these high-risk private plans, only about 5% choose to participate. Clearly, what working people want, when given a choice, is secure retirement.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is putting California at the forefront of a nation-wide attack on workers and their retirement. President Bush is pushing to privatize social security, eliminating the most successful social safety net in America. Eight other states are currently debating whether to switch from secure defined benefit plans to risky defined contribution plans through privatization of public pensions. The outcome of the pension privatization campaign in California will likely determine what happens to workers throughout the country.
Now is the time to stand up and stand together to defend the right of workers to retire with dignity. Over the next weeks and months, we will be calling on you to join us in this fight. Talk to your union leadership about you can get involved. Go to Union Voice website for e-mail updates.
In Solidarity, Robert A. Kaczmarek, President of BCEA
APRIL 12TH BURBANK GENERAL ELECTION
In December the BCEA PAC interviewed the City Council Candidates. From those interviews the Political Action Committee endorsed Stacey Murphy, Marsha Ramos, and Dave Golonski. The BFF, BPOA & BMA also made the same endorsements. Stacey Murphy was elected in the February 22nd primary election.
Saturday Voting 10:00am to 2:00pm ballot drop off at City Hall, Joselyn Center, McCambridge Park, Buena Vista Library & Tuttle.
May 17th - CITY OF LOS ANGELES GENERAL ELECTION - In this election is an important City Charter Amendment to make LAX policing part of LAPD. VOTE NO on Los Angeles City CHARTER AMENDMENT A. It is a power grab for LAPD Chief Bratton to gain salary dollars for LAPD positions, not a more secure LAX. If you live in Los Angeles please vote no on this union move.
NEGOTIATIONS SURVEYS
The BCEA Negotiations Team would like your input. Please complete the enclosed survey and return it to the BCEA office by Monday April 18th, either in person, inter-departmental mail, or U.S. mail. These answers will guide the team in how we develop our proposals this negotiations cycle.
These surveys have specific questions about the medical trust, and retirement improvements. What cost a benefit formula increase is worth to you? These are very important in guiding the BCEA Negotiations Team with the retirement and retiree medical trust coalition's negotiations. The City Council is not going to be very willing to talk about the plan changes this year. The feeling they have expressed is the City cannot afford to change.
The City's finances are tight again and will challenge everyone this year. This will be a difficult series of negotiations the cost of the retiree medical trust will probably become part of the cost of our total package. The City is dealing with a 6% increase on the miscellaneous rate that is double the projection.
COST SAVINGS and EFFICIENCY IDEAS In light of the current City budget we are asking you, the membership, for input of another kind. We would like any ideas you have for saving the City money. In meetings with City manager Mary Alvord, we discussed ideas about saving money. Mary was interested in the employees' input being directed through the BCEA. This may be a great opportunity to look at ineffective pet projects, or wasteful practices. It is a much better option that citizen committees coming back to look at our jobs. We don't need another FOCUS committee 12 years later. These committees only serve to distress employees and put targets on our backs.
If you have any suggestions, you can write them down, or e-mail them to the BCEA Office. Our e-mail address is bcea3143@att.net. I thank you in advance for your suggestions. I know you all have the best handle on how we do our jobs and what we can do better. Please send in your cost saving or efficiency ideas to the BCEA.
The Executive Board
&
Recreation Committee are Proud to Announce the
2005 BCEA Annual Picnic
7:00pm - 1:00am
Six Flags Magic Mountain
A PRIVATE EVENT with FREE PARKING