u of california admin recommends increasing their benefits while cutting their workers' bennies

[Hannah Bell]

Now a UC task force has released a set of recommendations, to be evaluated throughout the fall, intended to help the university gain control over its vast retirement problem over the next 30 years...

"While claiming that cost-cutting is needed, UC unbelievably increases retirement benefits for highly compensated executives, while cutting low-wage retirement benefits in half," said Julian Posadas, vice president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents 21,000 UC workers who typically earn around $40,000 a year.

For example, UC employees who retire at age 65 after 30 years currently get a pension worth about 75 percent of their salary. Under the new proposals, that would continue only for employees earning above $120,000 or so. Those earning $60,000 or less would get 45 to 60 percent of what they earned.

That may sound unfair, say UC officials on the retirement task force, but those figures don't tell the full story. With Social Security, low-wage workers who stay 30 years and retire at 65 can expect an income near their salary, they said. "Social Security is a legitimate and predictable form of income, so it seems not unreasonable to count that," said UC Provost Lawrence Pitts, chairman of the task force, created in 2009.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/10/MNHB1F8ENT.DTL#ixzz103krN5PJ


Maybe that's why there's a general strike in the works for Oct 7th.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/10/MNHB1F8ENT.DTL#ixzz103kO5JJ8

[old mark]

1. Sounds like the PA legislature. Freeze workers benefits and raises, but raise their own pay! rec NT

[hobbit709]

2. They should lead by example

If they're not willing to accept the same cuts they're demanding of others, then they should be tossed out on their ears.