City councilors did not approve the cost-of-living hikes sought for nearly 400 municipal retirees tonight.
City attorney Edward Krawiecki, Jr. said that a legal hitch arose this afternoon when lawyers spoke with an outside expert about the move.
Krawiecki said the city needs to revise its ordinances to allow the increase.
It doesn't appear the council has a problem with the request, but nothing is likely to happen until the ordinance panel takes up the matter.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
10 comments:
Give them a case of Coca-Cola, that's better then what I got when I retired after 35 years in the factory.
Thank you Ed for attempting to stop the rape of the tax payers.
They should revisit this entirely. Why are we handing out merry christmas bonuses to some unions, when there are other unions that have it as a negotiated part of their contract? This is going to muddy the waters in the future.
The people who need it the most should get the biggest bang for their buck, not an across the board raise so the people with hefty pensions get hefty raises and the lower paid employee retirees get squat. This was not well thought out.
Isn't the Board of Education in court over this issue from the last time the city tried to hand out pension colas or some other type of percentage multiplier?
I don't think we will be seeing Art Ward (wife worked for BOE and he got elected on the backs of the unions) or Frank Nicastro vote no on this. Frank's entire life has depended on largesse from government and the taxpayers, including all his real jobs and his pension, and not the state gig. Its almost pathetic.
The City Hall unions are going into contract negotiations this summer so all they care about is getting what they feel is due them and there is no way they were going to get that with Johnson or Zoppo at the helm. Why this would be getting done now, right before negotiations, is ridiculous. The city was not going to get anything back, like a cap on vacation days calculated, or anything? So much for give and take - its all give.
This is Patti Ewen's going away present to her friends - don't forget she is a retired city employee - a social worker no less and no exactly versed in municipal finance or pension actuarial numbers. This is not a bad idea, but poorly planned and not well structured. And the timing is really bad but I am sure the unions are feeling strong.
Why didn't the Salary Committee find out if it was legal before they voted to approve it? Who is in charge of the Salary Committee?
It amazes me how anyone could feel that the unions who fund these pensions are not entitled to them. The city doesn't match any funds in the pensions so why shouldn't the people who fund it get something out of it. The pensions are so overfunded that the citizens of Bristol may never have to fund them so the money is not coming out of their pockets. Maybe they should wake up and realize that. Don't knock them because they put away for their future, be ashamed of yourself for not doing the same.
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