P.A.C.E. Union Pension Watchers

The city of Atlanta in 1978 imposed a financial deadline to fully fund its pension by the year 2018, as of July 27, 2008, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) reported  the city council has pushed the date back to the year 2024. The city council voted to increase pensions, to improve the quality of life for retired City of Atlanta workers. According to the city council the pension liabilities are at 620.5 million for all three pension funds, General Employees, Police, and Fire.

Working towards retire is a goal most city of Atlanta employee's have in mind, the Union represents these employees and after several years of talks convinced the city council to give general employees more pension benefits, resulting in a 25% pension fund raise. So what went drastically wrong?  Several comments have been made on how the city should fix the pension crisis, however none are looking at the cost of living employees are facing.

Lou Arcangeli, a trustee of the police pension board "He said, the council must stop increasing benefits, even though general employees are seeking parity with the police". (Cameron McWhirter, AJC, 07/27/2008). Our City of Atlanta employees can not affording increase pension payments while the City of Atlanta decreases their pension inputs. Howard Shook, of the City Council Financial Committee said this year "what we are finding out is keeping those promises is a lot more arduous than making them" (Cameron McWhirter, ACJ 07/27/2008). P.A.C.E. will continue to monitor the pension crisis and the union legal team will make every effort to insure the ordinances giving benefit to workers is not forfeited. 

Pension information (watch for Updates)