Friday, April 25, 2008

police and fire pensions

rappers

must they wait until age 55?

Rappers overwhelmingly say police and firefighters should wait until age 55 to receive their pensions…but a number of e-mailers disagree…see what came into the rapp session e-mail box-

In my opinion, I feel as though if they earned it, they should get it when they are entitled to it.  It is not their fault this state is in the disastrous mess it is in.  Further more, that crazy guy who is enforcing all the changes in the pensions with these workers should really get a life.  Also, this business of changing the pension system even for people who have already earned it is insane.  If you are going to change the system, you should at least grandfather the people who have already been working so hard towards this goal.  It just isn’t fair. 
Jaime N
PS, I am neither of the above workers....  this is a strictly unbiased point of view.

Senator Alves is rattling the cage of an animal that should be let alone. If I started as a firefighter or a cop at age 18 I would be on the job over 35 years by then and quite possibly burnt out, now imagine getting hired at age 30 or older! I may want to enjoy my well deserved and hard-worked-for pension a little early. Senator Alves needs show more appreciation and compassion for those who serve us. It’s pathetic how 7 years ago, bringing action like this would be sacrilegious and career ending for a politician.
Guess we just need another tragedy to grease the wheels.
Spencer J, Warwick

No, especially police officers, should not have to wait until age 55. It should be determined by the number of years of service, for example 22 years, or 25 years. Given the nature of the work, this seems more than reasonable.
Jane, Johnston

Not everyone can stay physically fit or in good physical health until age 55. Taking into consideration the jobs they do, it would be beneficial for them to be younger rather than older, especially later in their careers. If required for everyone, there will undoubtedly be older officers and firefighters working in the streets. Can you see a 55 year old chasing an 18 year old? Let’s not lose quality in place of quantity.
Dan, Cranston

All city, state employees should have to wait to collect their pensions same as social security, 66 years old for full retirement or reduced retirement at 62 years which is a 30% reduction in benefits. We the public that finance their retirement can’t afford to retire because we have to pay for their early retirement benefits!
Mary S

No.... They should have to wait at least, until they reach age 62, preferably age 65.  However, should they have a job-related disabling injury or illness, they should begin to collect a pension immediately and the pension should be awarded based on the percentage of that person’s disability, using the VA’s model for making the award.  Their eligibility and disability status should be reviewed every three, or so, years.
Joe T, East Providence

“$2 billion in unfunded liability that cities and towns owe” who is responsible for that? Certainly not police, firefighters, laborers and Unions!

The unrelenting anti-labor administration and its contract with America oversaw the privatizing of corporate profits and socializing its losses on the backs of the taxpayer. The Unions did not outsource American jobs overseas and across borders to create wealth that works for who? The American worker is hurting, but no one is offering a bailout. They come up with trillions of dollars for foreign wars and banker bailouts, but no money for Social Security and Medicare.

They borrowed big to spur growth and bet heavily on debt-strapped American consumers ability to repay negative equity. Booming prices for food, rising gasoline, electricity, heating and water bills give Americans less to consume. Retail sales sink, layoffs mount, and wages falter.

The parasites to the system and protected criminals in the temple with their complex debt-instruments, shady derivatives and junk bonds; society’s planners, resource allocators are serving their own short-term interest, skimming off excessive profits and bonuses, getting a salary to speculate and gamble and not get stuck with the risk.

we need to dismantle this corrupt Ponzi-system, and rebuild the economy on a solid foundation of productive labor, worker solidarity and and above all the redistribution of income and purchasing power away from the system which flows to the top two or three per cent. Then people will actually be able to afford a house, not default on credit and have money for health care.

Or start handing our keys to the bank, buy a tent, cut our jobs work on a corporate farm illegally for food.
Zuke

WHAT THE HELL HAS AGE GOT TO DO WITH IT ? IT’S WHAT THE CONTRACT OR RULES THAT ARE AGREED TO BY BOTH PARTIES THAT DETERMINE WHEN AND HOW MUCH.
Capt. Cod

If Police/Firefighters are required to wait until 55 to collect their pensions then they will probably stay until 55. This makes for the most unsafe and Dangerous for these people.( Fire and Police have a Heart and Lung bill built into the system), this raises costs but Fed mandated. Firefighters have “used up their bodies” by about 40-45 years of age. If they came on the job at 21-25, and retired at 20 years the cities would only have to pay 50% of salaries, by making 55 the age to collect they stay and now have 34 years or so and after 32.5 they are to get 75% of salary. Studies have shown that Firefighters die of heart attacks 8-12 times higher than others in the age group due to “surprise waking” and going flat out at 2 am to a fire and working for hours. If someone has a heart attack, and lives the city is responsible for .667% of their pay Tax Free and full benefits. It makes sense to allow retirement after 20 years and pay a smaller pension than chance millions extra if that person lives with a heart condition for 25-40 years.
V.S.
ret’d Prov.Fire Dept

...and how long has this been in effect?  You mean they think they should get their pensions earlier than that?!  How absurd is that compared to what our own state’s National Guard soldiers have to wait until they get their retirement checks?  Your state soldiers have to wait until they are 60 years old to collect retirement checks and you think police and firefighters deserve better than that?  I’ve been trying to help push the “Retire at 55” legislation for all National Guardsmen that’s been going around the entire nation, but I heard it’s not even on the table for discussion yet.  Let’s think about this for a minute....your state soldiers and airmen are being led into a warring country, fighting off terrorist aggressors, human “bombs”, insurgents aggressively attacking military posts and killing citizens and soldiers every day......police and firemen may be putting their lives on the line, too, but every day like our state soldiers are doing?  If police and firemen can collect at age 55, why haven’t the state legislators pushed to award their own soldiers the same privileges?  Yes!  Police and firefighters who are to collect pensions at age 55 should wait that long......why give it to them any sooner when a state soldier comes back from the war, scarred from wounds, a leg missing, an arm missing, has to use a wheelchair to get around, and when he/she is old enough to collect their retirement checks, they have to wait until they’re 60 years old!  Give me a break!
C-Ann-C, Coventry

Yes! The unions have forced us into a Ponzi scheme. It doesn’t take a genius to see that working for twenty years then collecting for twenty or thirty or more, is unsustainable. It may have been acceptable in the past, but people live much too long now.
Bill, Portsmouth

1. Governor takes pay cut.  And furlough days. A 50% cut wouldn’t hurt him given all the perks.
2. All his Appointed friends in high places also get pay cuts for 45% and unpaid medical.
3.Turn OFF the heating systems in ALL State Bldgs.(seasonally, and regulate the thermostats to 62degrees!!!
4. All judges are to pay INTO the retirement systems and take a pay cut.
5.How about attempting to draw MORE TAXPAYERS INTO the state, instead of Driving the current ones out of state with over taxing.
6. If you review the state employment structure, you will notice a larger quantity of upper management, Directors, Managers, Assistant Directors,Associate Directors, Assistant managers....delete the positions to ONE manager or Director not both!
7. Why does the state college need a senator on the payroll.
8.Why exactly does a retired Governor need to be a “governor in residence"at the college, collecting another salary?
9. Where exactly is old stone bank? And it’s employees?
10. How about a higher pay-back requirement from the crooks . ( Mollicone, Pari, etc.)
DM

I think that ALL state workers, including teachers, should have to
be 55 years old before collecting a pension. Give a tax break to all
the people who won’t get pensions, but pay taxes that many times
pay for the “double-dippers” who collect pensions one after the other. However, I heard somewhere that 85 percent of firemen retire on disability, and they collect 2/3 of their pay tax free; that’s like a full pay; police and firemen will retire on disability even more. pay now,pay later
stuckin ri

Due to the fact that it a mandatory retirement, I have no problem with them collecting their pensions right away. Is the state hoping they will pass away before they have a chance to collect?
Lee L. Woonsocket