Forum puts focus on public employee pension plan reform

Similar stories:

• County pension plan getting on track

  County pension plan getting on track

  As other governments around the state struggle with pensions and their frightening fiscal implications, San Luis Obispo County leaders and their employees continue their long, steady march toward making employer-employee financial relations as painless as possible.

  Ninety percent of county employees have now agreed to two-tier pension plans, Human Resources Director Tami Douglas-Schatz told the Board of Supervisors this week, and all county workers have taken a pay cut in one form or another, generally by increasing their contribution to retirement plans.

  The county has 2,314 employees. Of those, 2,083 are now in a bargaining unit that includes a second tier, where new employees receive generally lesser benefits than veteran employees.

• Two San Luis Obispo city employee unions agree to pay cuts

  Two San Luis Obispo city employee unions agree to pay cuts

  Two San Luis Obispo city employee groups have reached tentative agreements to reduce their salaries by 7.5 percent to help the city balance its current two-year budget, the city announced Tuesday.

  The San Luis Obispo Police Staff Officers and the Battalion Chiefs also agreed to forgo any cost-of-living increases for the terms of the agreement, according to a news release from the city.

  The city is negotiating about $3.1 million in proposed employee compensation cuts, or 6.8 percent per employee overall. The city’s five employee unions, all with contracts that ended in December, have been in talks with the city on contract changes.

• SLO firefighters agree to give up pay raises for four years

  SLO firefighters agree to give up pay raises for four years

  San Luis Obispo firefighters will forgo pay increases for four years, pay their full pension contribution and begin a two-tier pension plan, according to a tentative agreement.

  The four-year contract, ratified Monday night by the San Luis Obispo Firefighters Association with “overwhelming” support, comes after months of closed-door negotiations between the city and the union.

  Erik Baskin, union president, said the agreement provides the one thing that members wanted: stability.

• Pension reform works, SLO County says

  Pension reform works, SLO County says

  Pension reforms negotiated over the past several years by San Luis Obispo County and its unions have already saved taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and will save millions more over the long haul, the county’s chief labor negotiator told the Board of Supervisors.

  In a recent status report on labor relations, Human Resources Director Tami Douglas-Schatz spelled out the steps the county and its employees have taken to minimize the damage the nation’s economic woes have done to the county.

  Douglas-Schatz is also the county’s chief negotiator with its unions. The workforce consists of 2,300 employees, 85 percent of whom are represented by eight employee associations. Labor costs represent 60 percent of the county budget.

• No raises for San Luis Obispo firefighters in new contract

  No raises for San Luis Obispo firefighters in new contract

  The San Luis Obispo City Council has narrowly ratified a four-year contract with the city’s firefighters union that foregoes raises, calls for employees to pay more toward their pensions and reduces retirement benefits for new hires.

  Council members voted 3-2 on the contract Tuesday night, with Councilwoman Kathy Smith and Councilman Dan Carpenter dissenting.

  It states that firefighters will not receive pay increases for four years, pay their full pension contribution and begin a two-tier pension plan.