Time to cut retirement benefits for city workers?

All I have to say is I am all for trying to make the enconomy work no mater what it takes as long as all the Politians and CEO's of companies take the cuts first. Then this might make a difference. All I see is the Politians and big wigs of companies getting their large bonises when the companies are losing money and expecting the middle class to get them rich. This has to stop.

I agree! Everyone has to take the hit and it should be done on a percentage basis. After all, 10% of $500,000 is a lot more than 10% of $50,000. CEO's and Polititians have been overpaid for too long. That is why us lower paid workers are having trouble paying the exorbitant taxes we have to pay to keep the Bev Oda's of this country buying $16 a glass orange juice at our expense.

I believe all public sector pensions etc.need to be brought in line with private sector pensions etc.
There is no reason that young people starting out should pay for prior generations.
I also think that publicly traded corporations need to sharply reduce executive compensation and start paying better dividends.
I believe these issues,among others are going to cause serious social problems in the not to distant future.
The present government in this country are as good at kicking the can down the road as all previous governments.

Should the government chose it can solve the pension crisis in one stroke. Nationalize all pension funds (to prevent any further abuse at the hands of fund managers). Then provide a guaranteed base income for everyone over 65.
We can fix this problem now OR we can wait for the younger generation to take 'radical' action when they are in power. The older generation can have all the 'voting strength' in the world, but if the people paying into the pension ponzi schemes go on a payment strike it would get very ugly, very fast.
It is interesting how we are hearing so much on pensions of late. It makes one wonder if the mismanagement/theft of the past two decades has been brought to light by the market correction of 2007-2012

The only people in this country who have fully indexed, defined benefit pensions are the public sector workers, at the federal, provincial and local levels. These plans are extremely costly, and often underfunded, and will impose a huge burden on future generations of taxpayors. A few of these taxpayors are lucky enough to have an unindexed defined benefit plan, but the vast majority will have a defined contribution plan.

I firmly beleive, as do most voters, that public sector compensation, (wages, benefits such as medical, and pensions) should reflect what is earned by the general public, and be the gold plated standard. Very few private sector employers could hope to survive by doling out the generous benefits the public sector employees receive. That being said, the public sector pensions and benefits must be brought down in line to what the private sectors employee,s and the vast majority of taxpayors, receive.

I see it this way . If the public sector is receiving the benefits such as they are now and is funded by the private sector which it is .then we should all receive the same amount .Remember that there is not one public sector worker that produces a product for sale or otherwise to produce wealth .
I think it is time for all trades people and production workers to go on strike for one year then we will see were the money comes from to pay for all this
think of greece or spain or italy when government gets out of the hands of the people who pay the bills it will go bust and that is a shame
frans

Ain t never going to happen UNLESS we get to a GREEK scenario.Polititions will not act on this issue unless they absolutelly must. In the mean time we ( taxpayers)just keep paying. Note the increase to 14% inthe governments pension contribution to OMERS pension.PLUS also to TEACHERS pensions ETC.

this debate will go on until it is to late and our children will be the ones who will suffer the end result not a pretty picture is it .And yes the teachers pension and benefit plne should be the no# one then the political leaders who we voted for should take the first step and then so on down the list

Absolutely. Union benefits are or should be a thing of the past; with the amount of money being paid in employment contracts, it's past due for union workers to start investing in their own retirement plans instead of spending every dime they earn; they need to accept responsibility for their future instead of relying on taxpayers at every turn of the road.

It's no wonder cities across the USA and Canada are mired in debt while struggling to maintain infrastructure, paying for essential services like doctors, hospitals, police, schools etc; and when there is a shortfall, it's always the taxpayer who is held accountable. It's a vicious circle even as union leaders call for higher wages & benefits (a dark ages theory)

It is high time that cities, municipalities and provinces start saying "no" to increased benefits and higher wages that outstrip the increases received by those of us who actually have to work for a living and only receive "performance based" salary increases or live on minimum wage

Performance based salaries are good only if there is performance that is not so in some of the elite in the industry but that is an other story lets just stick to the main body of people who pay for all the wealthy and work in jobs that come not even close to there government counter parts .
and some of the private industry were again the small investor gets burned when performance is not there but the top people get there bonus anyway .
In all I say if things do not change then change will come anyway and we will all suffer at the hands of those that were elected to make those changes

It is about time the public service faced reality. Taxpayers are tired of working harder, sometimes for less pay, to support a bloated, over-paid and under-worked government bureaucracy/civil worker system. Drive by any civic road repair and watch 14 people oversee the one person doing the actual work. Or try dispose of a piece of lumber in your garbage and end up in a fight with your garbage"man".the unions have destroyed Canadian productivity. The very minimum adjustment should be that ALL municipal/provincial/federal employees should be paid on the same level as private employees. THAT would be a good start. One additional benefit that SHOULD be included for all government employees, and especially union officials, is a guaranteed life-time supply of baby soothers and suckers, so the taxpayers won't have to listen to them whine and cry about how badly they are treated.

I agree with Richard and Donna It is time for cuts. Start at the top and make it a % for all. Both pensions and pay need to be reduced for the public sector, and it needs to be done quickly.

It is about time that all levels of government start setting an example for all tax payers. Why should my tax dollars continue to fund a life style ( pensions, medical plans, etc) for public employees when I have to fend for myself. After 46 years of hard labour I have had to save and scrimp to enjoy my retirement. Being a Type 1 diabetic and my wife having heart problems our prescription bills are extremely high and paid for out of our pocket. ( I understand that when we turn 65 we can join a government sponscerned plan??) Ahh, to have only been fortunate to have a public sector job.

So when does it stop first city workers than who hmmm auto workers hey they make to much $$$$$ then lets say postal,hotel workers,hell why not screw everybody after all these dumb asses running the good all USA can do what ever they want in another 30years there be no pensions half the sticken country will be out work so for all of you who agree with crap f.o.

I AGREE !
Lets stop the insanity.
There are many things about public pensions which would benefit taxpayers if the government were to change.
For starters - lets use the pensions of hundreds of thousands of people to pay off the provincial debt.
What few people realize is that the govt is trying to change pension laws so that they can use the money and never really pay it back.
As a teacher, I currently give almost 15% of my gross income to a pension which has been poorly calculated and will continue to lose. The loss is made up by raised contributions from current members who will never see those numbers returned. That number will be raised to probably 16 or 17% next year and I will never see the kind of pension current retirees are getting because the govt is seeking to stall my income by 20-30 % forever while my contributions continue to rise to pay for shortfalls to current pensioners who didnt even contribute for half their careers.
THIS IS WRONG - I've only been teaching for 7.5 years and my contributions have gone from 8% to almost 15 and will continue to rise.
So, while the govt gets to pay off debts in 6 years using private money, I'm left with the bill.
Give teachers back their money...I could easily make an extra $1000 per month work very well for me...like buy a second or third house to fund my retirement !

It has never been more obvious that the time has come for unions to get real....their every expanding demands are totally unreasonable...and the costs are unsustainable.....had the greed not overtaken unon leaders over the past few decades...perhaps it would not have come to this...as a taxpayer, I hail the victory in Wisconsin.....and I hope it doesnt have to come to the point of holding a referendum of sorts here.

How about few facts before bashing the federal retirees.
Anyone know, or take the trouble to find out, why there is so little mony in the federal coffres to pay for public employee pensions? Simple ... It is because the pension plan wasn't capitalized until a few years ago. The government took the money that employees were paying and simply spent it! Now, they say there isn't enough cash !!!!
Check it out ...

Private sector unions are not anything close to the public sector unions.We actually have to work;if you do not produce you get laid off.

just keep giving away everything our fathers have worked so hard for today pensions then what ?????????????????????? you people who agree with this are stupid fools and your the problem sell outs turn coats back stabers but then its expected.

I don't think any perks should be cut. Okay, that is a lie, sometimes i agree that "some" people have a gravy train. However, now is not the time to take everything away as the younger generation won't have these "gravy train jobs". Without the next generation having these jobs that had good pensions, high wages etc. We don't have the abilitiy like our parents to afford the nicer things in life............Anyhow, it is the way of the world. There pensions will get cut and any benefits they have. The people at the top of the todem poles are the ones who truly will benifit. NOT THE TAX PAYER.

Why be so specific? Government workers at all levels should all have comparable salaries and benefits to their private counterparts, or maybe even less. Ideally, they're very professional in dealing with sensitive information, but I've sat in a hospital cafeteria and overhead nurses going on about patients (by name), so we know that's not reality. Generally, they're less efficient, held to a lower standard, are less culpable when there's a problem...