The City of Pensacola is negotiating union contracts with fire, police and its general government worker unions. Pensions have to be a big part of the negotiations. What these unions shouldn’t want to see is a referendum on their pension benefits. If the unions declare an impasse, the city may move to put the pensions up for a public vote.
San Diego and San Jose, Calif. did that and the voters overwhelmingly voted to cut the pension benefits they give their city workers (Read NYT article).
City-manager/council form of government never wanted to deal with the pension crisis. Workshops were held, presentations made–but nothing constructive came out of it. The annual pension contributions are swallowing up the city’s budget. I don’t see how Mayor Hayward can avoid dealing with it—whether the council is ready to or not.
