Pension promises can be altered, legal scholar says

[Live and Learn]

I guess a promise isn't worth spit anymore.

http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/06/29/pension-promises-can-be-altered-legal-scholar-says/158198/

Major pension reform initiatives were just passed in San Diego and San Jose — and both are headed to court. The day of reckoning may be upon us.

“California courts have put in place a highly restrictive legal rule that binds the legislature without the court ever finding clear and unambiguous evidence of legislative intent to create a contract,” Monahan wrote.

Current pension reform efforts only tackle newly hired workers — and do nothing about what’s owed to current workers. If governments could reduce pension benefits of current workers going forward — not for the past time they’ve already worked, but for the future still to come — they might wrestle those multi-billion-dollar unfunded liabilities down to a more manageable size. And that might not sit so poorly with workers: they might prefer pension cuts to salary freezes or layoffs.

[freshwest]

1. Yes, they can. Many corporations had already changed rules not only for new workers, but for those

Approaching retirement as well. Their defined benefit plans will be reduced or eliminated. They will have to try for a percentage of promised benefits from the already over burdened Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Too much money has been siphoned out of this country's public and private sector by business. speculation and not paying taxes. That's not even counting the cost of wars waged for profit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pension_Benefit_Guaranty_Corporation&printable=yes

[HiPointDem]

2. theft of their life's work.

[SoCalDem]

3. This is why, going forward, wage negotiations for unions that are left

should NEVER again budge on demands in exchange for "pension enhancements".

Every person who is now seeing their pensions cut/eliminated, had their labor STOLEN all during their working lives.

The money they should have gotten in their paychecks was bargained away as "pension" contributions, and now are being reneged on.

When I was in a union, it was routine to have the union ask for $0.50 over the term of a contract, and see it finally agreed to at $0.30, with $0.20 going into pension. The bosses patted themselves on the back for "giving" $0.50, and the workers accepted it on faith.

Reneging on pension promises is just stolen wages/work.

[freshwest]

4. Thank you, yes, it's retroactive theft...