Yesterday, I received an email from one of our readers, Ed Mecka, from Hoboken, New Jersey, who turned me on to an article regarding the pension crisis that is taking place in Memphis, Tennessee.  The crisis in Memphis has caught the national media’s attention, and an article was printed in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago in regard to the same.  The following are some excerpts from this Wall Street Journal article that I believe hit particularly close to home in regard to the potential “fall-out” that we currently face here in New Jersey with our own pension debacle.

This past July, half of the police officers in Memphis, Tennessee began to engage in organized “job actions” to protest reductions being implemented to the Public Employee’s Pension System.  These job actions did little good as the government began to overhaul the pension system and as a result, the city has seen police and fire fighters resigning from their positions of employment en masse.

“I can’t justify me putting my life on the line, and not knowing if my family would be taken care of,” said Joseph Vaughn, a 35-year-old Memphis native who quit his hometown fire department last month for a lower-paying job in Alabama because it has a traditional pension. His defined-benefit pension plan in Memphis would have changed in 2016 to a new hybrid that is designed more like the retirement accounts in the private sector.  Since the pension overhaul, more than 250 police and firefighters have quit city employment and new recruits are proving difficult to attract.

The City of Memphis has abandoned its traditional defined-benefit pension plan and has opted to move to a 401(k)-style pension system.  Sound familiar?  It should because this is the same type of plan to overhaul the New Jersey Public Employee Pension System that Governor Christie introduced at his latest budget address and is now touting as the latest and greatest solution to our current pension crisis.

New Jersey’s Governor and State Legislature needs to examine the problems that Memphis is now facing as a result of this unwanted and unwelcomed pension overhaul.  Do we want a mass exodus of our public safety officers in New Jersey?  Do we want our cities, municipalities, counties and the state itself to have difficulty attracting the best candidates for public safety positions?  Lets face it, we pay some of the highest taxes in the nation but we also get some pretty decent services here in the Garden State.  Everyone out there knows full well that if the Public Employee Pension System is overhauled in a manner similar to what was done in Memphis, our taxes aren’t going to go down.  Think about the last plan that the Governor touted that would lower your taxes–the two percent (2%) interest arbitration salary cap.  The salary cap has been in place for five (5) years now.  Has anyone seen a reduction in their property taxes?

New Jersey take a look at what’s going on in Memphis, Tennessee.  Remember the quote, “Those who can not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.  We are better than that here in New Jersey–Lets start showing the country that we respect our public safety officers and public employees for the services they perform by honoring our pension obligations.

Tags: benefit reform, Christie, collective bargaining, Governor Christie, health benefits, health care, health care reform, healthcare reform, Memphis, Memphis Pension crisis, New Jersey State Police, NJ Firefighters, NJ Municipal Police, NJ Police, NJ Public Employees, NJ Public Safety Officers, NJ State PBA, Pension, pension reform, PFRS, Public Employment Labor Law, Retiree Benefits, Tennessee Pension Crisis
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Photo of Frank M. Crivelli Frank M. Crivelli

Frank M. Crivelli’s practice revolves around the representation of over eighty-five (85) labor unions in various capacities, the majority of which bargain for law enforcement entities. He is proud to be called on a daily basis to provide counsel to over 12,000 state…

Frank M. Crivelli’s practice revolves around the representation of over eighty-five (85) labor unions in various capacities, the majority of which bargain for law enforcement entities. He is proud to be called on a daily basis to provide counsel to over 12,000 state, county and local law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMS workers.

Mr. Crivelli specializes his individual practice in collective negotiations.  Over the past twenty (20) years, Mr. Crivelli has negotiated well over one hundred (100) collective bargaining agreements for various state, county, municipal and private organizations and has resolved over thirty-five (35) labor agreements that have reached impasse through compulsory interest arbitration.  Mr. Crivelli routinely litigates matters in front of the New Jersey State Public Employment Relations Commission, the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, third party neutrals for mediation, grievance and interest arbitration, the Superior Court of New Jersey and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Mr. Crivelli founded and created the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog (www.njpublicsafetyofficers.com) approximately fifteen (15) years ago where he and members of his firm routinely publish blog posts regarding legal issues related to the employment of New Jersey Public Safety Officers.  The blog now contains over six hundred (600) articles and is reviewed and relied upon by thousands of public employees.  Mr. Crivelli has also published books and manuals pertaining to New Jersey Public Employee Disability Pension Appeals and the New Jersey Worker’s Compensation System. Currently, he is drafting a publication on how to Prepare and Negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement.  He lectures annually at the New Jersey State PBA Collective Bargaining Seminar, the National Association of Police Organization’s Legal Seminar, the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission Seminar on Public Employment Labor Law, the United States Marine Corps’ Commander’s Media Training Symposium and to Union Executive Boards and General Membership bodies on various labor related topics.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Crivelli joined the United States Marine Corps where he served as a Judge Advocate with the Legal Services Support Section of the First Force Services Support Group in Camp Pendleton, California.  While serving in the Marine Corps, Mr. Crivelli defended and prosecuted hundreds of Special and General Court Martial cases and administrative separation matters.  In addition to his trial duties, Mr. Crivelli was also charged with the responsibility of training various Marine and Naval combat command elements on the interpretation and implementation of the rules of engagement for various military conflicts that were ongoing throughout the world at that time. After leaving active duty, Mr. Crivelli remained in the Marine Corps Reserves where he was promoted to the rank of Major before leaving the service.

For the past fifteen (15) years, Mr. Crivelli has been certified as a Civil Trial Attorney by the Supreme Court for the State of New Jersey, a certification which less than two percent (2%) of the attorneys in New Jersey have achieved.  He is a graduate of Washington College (B.A.), the City University of New York School of Law (J.D.), the United States Naval Justice School, and the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation.

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