SEIU Local 535

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STOP the Governor from Destroying our Secure Retirement

He's on the Run, but says he'll be back. Right after pulling back on the current pension initiative, the Governor launched a new set of radio ads saying that he will come back with a new initiative for June 2006 without the death & disability provisions that hurt him so much publicly.

Governor Schwarzenegger continues to attack our secure retirement in the legislature. When he fails, he has threatened to reintroduce his at-risk pension proposal in June 2006.

We're Keeping the Pressure On . . . To fight back against Governor Schwarzenegger's attacks to our secure retirement, SEIU members are working even harder now to collect signatures to qualify the Equal Vote Requirement Act.

The Equal Vote Requirement Act would make it more difficult for the Governor to pass his pension initiative now or in 2006.

Help collect signatures and participate in lobby days Click here to contact your field representative.

The Equal Vote Requirements Act Would Make it Hard for the Governor to Pass his Pension Initiative

The Governor pulled back from his very flawed pension initiative that did away with death and disability benefits for survivors of those killed in the line of fire. This was a huge but temporary win for us. We need to press on with all of our efforts to get signatures, lobby days, rallies, and press events.

The Governor is running ads about the fact that he will be back with another initiative in June, one that he thinks he can win. He continues to support privatization of our pensions.

The pension initiative caps employer contributions to 6% of employee's salary or 9% for sworn police officers, full-time firefighters, and those not covered by Social Security.

For any local jurisdiction that wants to increase those caps on employer contributions, they would be required to get a 2/3ds vote. That would make it very hard to pass.

The Equal Vote Requirements Act would require that the pension initiative get that same two-thirds vote to pass.

Radical Plan Ends Retirement Security For Public Employees. Today's Workers and Tomorrow's Will Retire Into Poverty If It Becomes Law.

	It will affect us as retirees. Privatization weakens our pension by eliminating new money coming into defined benefit plan. In the words of one pension expert it will "turn public pensions upside down for 15 years." COLAs will disappear. No COLA+inflation+increased life span = retiring into poverty.
	It will affect us as taxpayers. This plan will not save one dollar for taxpayers in the short term. The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) determined privatizing pension system and forcing new hires into 401Ks will NOT save the county a single dollar for 19 years.
	It will affect us as county workers struggling to deliver quality services. Administation costs for L. A. County's pension will increase $200 million in the first year and $1.29 billion in the first ten. These higher costs will be paid for with job cuts, increased workloads and reduced services.
	It will affect us as a consumers of public services. As newly impoverished retirees many services now available to low-income elders will be gone or drastically cut.

Retiree’s Pension*
Without C.O.L.A. Over Ten Years

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