Ohio Passes Law that Severely Restricts the Collective Bargaining Rights of Public Safety Officers

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Frank Crivelli

As reported by the New York Times, On Thursday, March 31, 2011, the State of Ohio passed a law that is more restrictive on the collective bargaining rights of Public Safety Officers than the law that was passed in Wisconsin several weeks ago.  

While both laws severely limit public employees’ ability to bargain collectively — they both prohibit any bargaining over health coverage and pensions — the Ohio law largely eliminates bargaining for the police and firefighters whereas Wisconsin’s law leaves those two groups’ bargaining rights untouched. Ohio’s law also gives city councils and school boards a free hand to unilaterally impose their side’s final contract offer when management and a union fail to reach a settlement.  Implementation of a final offer by management is permitted in private sector collective bargaining but was previously not permitted in the public sector.

Notwithstanding the differences in legislation, the push by those states’ Republican governors and Republican-dominated legislatures points to a pendulum swing away from what many unions and Democrats see as a fundamental right for public employees: the right to bargain over wages and benefits.

While New Jersey's Governor, Chris Christie, has stated that he does not have any intentions on abolishing Public Safety Officers' rights to collectively bargain, he has already taken steps to eliminate premium cost sharing of health care benefits as a subject that is mandatorily negotiable.  Furthermore, he has also stated that he is looking forward to engaging in "adversarial" negotiations with public employee labor unions as contracts are now expiring.

To read the entire New York Times article regarding the Ohio law, click here.

 

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U.S. State Pensions Face Overhaul in Bad Economy

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Donald Barbati

 

Recently, Karen Pierog and Jim Christie published an article addressing state pension overhauls during these tough economic times. Specifically, the article examines how Illinois, California, and other states have instituted reforms to combat increasing and debilitating unfunded pension liabilities. 

According to the article, the National Association of State Retirement Administrators found a nearly $443 billion collective unfunded liability for the 125 state, local government, and teacher pension funds in its most recent survey. The situation is likely to worsen as the recession punches holes in budgets nationwide and causes big investment losses for defined-benefit pension plans that pay out a fixed income. As a result, it is suggested that the economic downturn may also lead to more reforms as politicians and taxpayers realize they can no longer afford plush pensions compared to defined-contribution 401(k) plans in the private sector which pay income based on variable investment returns. 

This year, laws were enacted in Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Texas that reduced benefits for new employees. On the local level, New York City has repeatedly trimmed pension benefits for new hires by creating pension tiers. Illinois and California are among the states evaluating various reform suggestions and/or establishing pension commissions in order to adequately address the problem. In all, it is clear state pension systems are facing a major overhaul in response to the poor economic climate.

This article is of particular importance because the status of the New Jersey public pension system is vital to every resident of this state and especially crucial to public safety employees. Consequently, all current or retired New Jersey public safety officers should read this article in order to fully understand the measures being taken across the country to rectify the problems that have become prevalent in defined-benefit pension plans. To read the full article, click on the following link.

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