April 28, 2010

Officials still eyeing pension excess

There’s a growing push at City Hall to tap excess pension trust money to cover the cost of providing health care to municipal retirees.
Mayor Art Ward said he’s sought to open negotiations with the unions representing firefighters and the police, but neither has agreed to sit down for talks yet.
Shifting the extra pension cash into a new post-retirement health care trust fund would potentially save taxpayers millions of dollars, particularly if the stock market keeps rising so the excesses remain substantial.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Mayor Art Ward said he’s sought to open negotiations with the unions representing firefighters and the police, but neither has agreed to sit down for talks yet."

now, there's a shock........

the freakin' unions are so ignorant and worried about their own asses that they would rather let the city go broke [or cause city residents to pay higher taxes] than sit at the negotiating table and see what the mayor has in mind.

as i've said in the past, unions have outlived their usefulness, and will be the downfall of the U.S. economy. [witness the car industry.]

thanks for nothing.......

-billy from bristol

Odin said...

Art Ward has been dithering over this for YEARS. If the unions won't sit down with you, then do what you gotta do and let their lawyers and your lawyers duke it out in court afterward. Shit or get off the pot, man.

Anonymous said...

Billy from Bristol -
Maybe you should be asking WHY the unions haven't sat down? What sort of ethics (or lack thereof) has Art Ward employed up to this point? You're only hearing the side of the story that Ward's mouthpiece (aka The Bristol Press) presents. Keep in mind that the term "city residents" includes a great deal of Bristol's employees so they aren't interested in taxes going up any more than you are!
As for the big bad unions outliving their usefulness: it's no coincidence that when the US car industry was at it's peak, union membership numbers were at an all-time high. Yes, greed (and NAFTA) helped cause the collapse of the auto industry. But it isn't the unions that are solely to blame!!

Anonymous said...

The word is TRUST, or lack thereof.

Anonymous said...

dear mr. anonymous:

<<<>>>

i can only comment on what i read.....i have no "insider information" as to what mr. ward may or may not be doing. if he's being unethical, then hopefully the bristol press or any other publication will investigate and report the results. i would not tolerate unethical behavior from an elected official.


<<>>

ok, so why doesn't the rank and file union members push their leaders to sit down with the administration and talk? rank and file must read the paper and see the impending 6% tax hike...don't you think a little help now in the short term might be handsomely rewarded in the long term [when the economy improves???]


<<>>

agreed, but i still maintain unions have outlived their usefulness. most of the work rules maintained by unions are archaic [ever been on a construction site in new york city??] and the fact remains that non-union workers can produce just as well, if not better than their union brethren, for a fraction of the cost to their employers [and hence us customers.]

all i'm trying to say is that the unions can be part of the problem or they can be part of the solution. right now, it appears they are part of the problem.

-billy from bristol

Dave said...

Why should the Unions sit down and negotiate pension fund monies with the City. When the City won't sit down and talk about a contract. The Fire Department hasn't had a contract in almost 4 years. Amazing how that didn't make it into the storyline of the Bristol Press... Only printing what suits the powers that be... Great unbiased reporting...

Belly up said...

1:34 - the fire union hasn't had a contract because THEY, the UNION, opted to go to arbitration instead of negotiating in good faith like the rest of the unions have since ward has been mayor. Maybe the city should think about a volunteer department like Plainville or Wolcott - more professionalism, less greed.

Anonymous said...

The mayor won'twork to make them part of the solution.

Anonymous said...

4:55, He's the mayor, not a magician. They won't negotiate. I think Belly up has the right idea.

Anonymous said...

4:55

It is because it is HIS way or no way.

Look up the word "TRUST".

Anonymous said...

6:24, Maybe you should look up the word "JEALOUS."

Anonymous said...

Jealous of what?????

whatever said...

6:24 - seperate the "queen" from your union president and you might have a contract rather a "wish."

Anonymous said...

Let's put all the cards on the table the Fire Dept. does not have a contract because they opted to go to arbitation, and now that the City has a upper hand they want to negotiate- let's face it , it is in the taxpayers best interest to sit and wait for the arbitration award and they don't like it. Sorry Tom you bet on getting more and lost

Anonymous said...

Ward can NOT be trusted - even his own veterans know that the J stands for Jane Fonda and she woke up 16 years to late.

Anonymous said...

11:31, Trust issues? Soumds like a personal problem.

Anonymous said...

7:31

You are correct!

It IS Ward's problem.

And therefore ours too.

challenged said...

11:31 - very mouthy when you can hide - ward didn't.

Anonymous said...

10:28, You're correct, it is Ward's problem (and ours too)...we all have to listen to your incessant juvenile and insecure ramblings. Maybe your doctor can up the meds?

Anonymous said...

1:07

But he should!

Anonymous said...

You don't enter the stock market when it's high...and expect it to get even higher?

Artie's too chicken to do anything but blame everyone else for what he doesn't have the nerve to do himself or he's waiting for some Republican to tell him what to do. lol

same-o said...

10:11 - the difference is that the republicans haven't said anything - they'll sit back until all of the work is done and then try to grab political headlines - with no solutions.

Anonymous said...

10:11 PM, You anonymously bash the mayor and make all kinds of stupid, pointless, baseless allegations...and you think HE'S a chicken??? Look in the mirror honey.

Anonymous said...

"Mayor Art Ward said he’s sought to open negotiations with the unions representing firefighters and the police, but neither has agreed to sit down for talks yet."

This is a joke. Ward doesn't want to negotiate, he wants to dictate.He listens to Klocko, who continues to mislead everyone about the nature of the problem. Collins stated the other day that it "wasn't clear" whether the city had to negotiate a contract change in order to use pension funds for retiree health care. If it isn't clear to Collins by now , that is because either 1 -_ his sources are lying to him or 2- he is dumb as a stump. Cockayne said in the Observer that the city should just take the money from the pension fund. Good luck with that Ken. The second you do that the pension fund ceases to be a trust and the city will owe millions in federal taxes. I thought maybe when Matthews and Mills got elected there would finally be a couple of people in city government that were smart enough to do the proper research and get this thing done. Wrong.

Anonymous said...

"as i've said in the past, unions have outlived their usefulness, and will be the downfall of the U.S. economy. [witness the car industry"

The downfall of the engine that drives the economy (the middle class) is directly tied to the weakening of organized labor. Our economy was at it's strongest when the unions were at their strongest. Now organized labor is hanging by a thread and look at the economy. The fact that the average person on the street today is convinced organized labor is bad is distressing. I had a builder tell me the other day that the damn unions were ruining everything. Who does he think bought most of the houses he built? Not some schmuck grinding out minimum (slave) wage. Actually if there was no high benchmark (union wages) minimum wage or any wage for that matter, would be even lower than it is today. When organized labor is gone we will all be slaves. Wake up people.

Sick of my taxes going up said...

Ward can't be trusted - he wife needs to wake up and see his mistrust over the years, to bad Ward burned his friends as well as many Veterans in this town.

Ward marches around the city like a big shot, talking up HIS battle wounds - bull Ward, you only skinned your leg, hardly a battle scar.
Stop with your game playing on taxpayers, cut your huge ego and be honest with people, including yourself and your family. You are nothing but a phoney and liar.

Anonymous said...

7:22, It must be an incredibly heavy cross to bear, you being just the most intelligent person in the entire city (maybe even the country!). Instead of blogging, you should be off somewhere putting that superior intellect to good use. World peace maybe?

Anonymous said...

7:22, It must be an incredibly heavy cross to bear, you being just the most intelligent person in the entire city (maybe even the country!). Instead of blogging, you should be off somewhere putting that superior intellect to good use. World peace maybe?

Not a burden to share information obtained from research and just plain common sense. If you have something constructive to say go ahead, but "shoot the messenger" serves no purpose.

Anonymous said...

4:10, Not shooting the messenger, just laughing at your incredibly huge ego. Thanks ever so much for sharing your "research and common sense," but I could get more intelligent comments from a third grader....LMFAO!!!

Anonymous said...

"Sick of my taxes going up said..."

I think you should seriously consider shortening your name to just plain ole "sick" (cuz you really are).

Anonymous said...

4:10, Not shooting the messenger, just laughing at your incredibly huge ego. Thanks ever so much for sharing your "research and common sense," but I could get more intelligent comments from a third grader....LMFAO!!!

You don't think you are shooting the messenger but that is just because you don't what "shoot the messenger" means. If you did, you would realize you just did it again.

Anonymous said...

5:04, I hate to burst your bubble oh egotistical one, but I do understand. What YOU don't understand is that the messenger is supposed to just be passing along information..YOU, on the other hand, make it up as you see fit for your own twisted purpose.

Really sounds more like a personal problem. Good luck with that!

Anonymous said...

"YOU, on the other hand, make it up as you see fit for your own twisted purpose."

If you can prove me wrong on any of my points go for it!
P.S. Don't LMAO to hard, your brains may spill out.

Anonymous said...

11:23, At least I've got some to spill...LMAO!!!

Anonymous said...

"11:23, At least I've got some to spill...LMAO!!!"

Drip...drip... drip.. just as I thought.

I repeat, if you can rebut anything I have posted feel free. Fat chance.

some scars never heal said...

7:00 - mirror, mirror on the wall - have never heard ward talk about scars etc. but have seen him help a lot of vets like me - maybe your scars are self-inflicted?