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Heard in the Hall

Survivors of slain police officers speak out against House pension bill

Philadelphia City Hall and political coverage from the Philadelphia Inquirer City Hall bureau.

24 comments

Survivors of slain police officers speak out against House pension bill

POSTED: Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 5:25 PM

Marcia Gelbart

Labor opposition continues to grow day by day to state legislation that could free up $700 million for Philadelphia.

For days now, city municipal leaders have said they don't oppose a city sales tax hike and a two-year plan to defer pension payments - measures rigorously sought by Mayor Nutter. But they do oppose other provisions in the same bill - to be considered next Tuesday by the House - that they believe limit their right to pursue pension benefits changes through a collective bargaining an arbitration process.

Philadelphia's AFL-CIO president, Pat Eiding, spoke strongly against the bill in today's Inquirer story, saying: "[Lawmakers] want our money to help them and they want our feet to walk the streets to help them get elected. It's not a threat to anybody, but we want them to respect what little labor laws we have in this country."

Soon, Senate and House legislators will find their mailboxes stuffed with yet another angry letter.

This one is written on letterhead from Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, but its authors are the surviving spouses and family members of eight Philadelphia police officers killed in the past three years.

"As a result of the 2008-2009 collective bargaining agreement, the FOP was able to secure a pension improvement whereby the pension of slain police officers is automatically increased one rank for purposes of compensation. This improvement not only represents a permanent financial benefit to our families, but a lasting memorial to the appreciation of the citizens of Philadelphia for the sacrifices that we made.

"Although this pension improvement costs virtually nothing in the scheme of things, the current version of (House Bill 1828) would make improvements of this nature illegal in the future!"

Then the letter-writers say this: "We collectively feel that the public expressions of consolation by our local politicians at the funeral services for our loved ones to be disingenuous given the content of this proposed legislation, which they are now seeking to implement. Clearly the economic relief sought by the City should not work to the detriment of the police and their families and/or preclude them from meaningful collective bargaining."

The letter is signed by, Roslyn Harrison, Kim Pawlowski, Jasmine Nazario; Larry and Patsy McDonald, Kathy Simpson, Ann Skerski, Judy Cassidy and Michelle Liczbinski.

Click here for Philly.com's politics page.

24 comments

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Comments (24)

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0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:56 PM, 09/02/2009

Shabba, what do you do for a living? Just curious.

— Smokey

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0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:18 PM, 09/02/2009

Learn how to spell, Shabba. Bain is bath water. Bane, is ruin. FYI, Unions gave you the 8 hr work day, child labor laws, and the Family Medical Leave Act, any other complaints?

— tgwtim071

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:26 PM, 09/02/2009

Is the aide who stole money from Philadelphia and works for Wilson Goode, Latrice Bryant, still employed by the city?

— Sports4Life

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:35 PM, 09/02/2009

The police and fire officers of this city haved been shorted in their pensions for decades. Go to any comparable city and the police and fire officers get better benefits the our officers and firefighters. Do not cut pension corners for these important city workers who everyday risk their lives and limbs for us.

— BillyBob369

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:37 PM, 09/02/2009

All the results of a dwindling business tax base, fleeing tax paying residents, and an increased demand on services by the residents still living there. This damage was done over the last two decades or so..Nutter has NO chance to fix this problem and it's no different in most other major cities. I do find it interesting though, that in most of those places Demcorats have been in control for decades.

— beermoney

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:43 PM, 09/02/2009

Hey Sports4life..in fact, Latrice just got a salary bump to over 90K a couple weeks ago according to Fox29. Archive the story on their site. Gotta love it!

— beermoney

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:46 PM, 09/02/2009

It is shameful of the unions to roll out dead cops wives for a sympathy ploy. Sorry you folks have to take your lumps like everyone else. And closing health centers is one of the dumbest ideas yet. Not only is it inhumane but it will be costly as then all the uninsured would use 911 and emergency rooms for medical care. Dumb. Yes, we need to cut the size of city government. Do away with at large council people and their staff. Make Nutter cut his staff in half. But the unions have to contribute as well and shameless ploys like Cop widows is not going to win any friends.

— Malcolm65

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:08 PM, 09/02/2009

Cops & firefighters get to moonlight and work a lot of OT to compensate, which is great. But you choose your path and your profession. If death and danger are part of it, then thats the choice in the matter for you and your family. Again most will be moonlighting other jobs, when you work 2 - 24's for 2 weeks or however it is scheduled most get to work other jobs on their downtime and it is accepted, which is great, make more money. But revenue is down, this city government is screwing up and this is the outcome when they subjected themselves to the State and passed the buck. Downsizing needs to happen.

— uandwhosearmy

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:21 PM, 09/02/2009

This is a bunch of union manipulation. Pay your own way like everyone else when they retire.

— Fascism Rules

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:33 PM, 09/02/2009

While its a shame that the officer was killed in the line of duty why must the public be on the hook for the rest of the spouse's life? That is what life insurance is for. In any other profession if you pass away thats it, the family gets some life insurance and the money in the 401k and move on with their life. The taxpayers have enough burdens to pay for we do not need more.

— Taxpaying Voter