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Monday, June 29, 2009

Pew Updates Study on Benefit Costs

With contracts for the city's four municipal unions set to expire at midnight tomorrow, Pew Charitable Trusts today released a updated report on the cost of employee benefits for the city.

Put out by the Philadelphia Research Initiative, the report is titled: "Quiet No More: Philadelphia Confronts the Cost of Employee Benefits. Today's release updates a 2008 study published by Pew and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia called "Philadelphia’s Quiet Crisis: The Rising Cost of Employee Benefits."

Today's report details the city's attempts to change payments into the pension fund and reduce health care costs, stressing that such efforts will be key to the city's fiscal future.

AFSCME DC 47, which represents the city's white-collar workers, attacked the new report last week before it was even released. Bob Bedard, a union spokesman, sent out a long e-mail complaining about inaccurate information he said the union found in a memo with details of the study supplied by Pew for fact-checking. Bedard also complained about the timing of the updated report, coming out so close to the expiration of the contract.

As part of his budget, which is dealing with a $1.4 billion five-year shortfall, Mayor Nutter eliminated money set aside for raises and is counting on getting $125 million in contract savings over the next five years. The city's opening offers to the nonuniformed workers included a four-year wage freeze and major concessions in pension contributions and work rules, as well as a major restructuring of health-benefit plans.

Contracts for the city's 10,000 uniformed workers - who cannot strike - are settled through arbitration. That process has started for police and is scheduled for firefighters later this year. Unlike police and firefighters, the 10,000 members of the nonuniformed unions can hit the pavement.

The city has begun making preparations in case of a strike.
Posted by Catherine Lucey @ 10:25 AM  Permalink | 1 comment
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:43 PM, 06/29/2009
    The Pew Report does a very good job outlining comparative costs and contributions. The city will have to contribute more, and so will city employees to their health and pension plans. New hires can't be hired under the formerly over generous plan that is underfunded. The report isn't a sop to Nutter; it uses graphs to show how a pension payment delay and refi are based on unrealistic assumptions in market performance and recovery. The only thing in the report to disagree with is that this crisis is not "quiet." Anyone paying attention knows it's severe.
    — CleanupPhilly


1 comments
About The Philly Clout Team
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics ­– which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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