Riverside County Imposes Pension Reform on Union

Members of Riverside County's largest union will be required to make their own pension contributions, and new hires will have less generous retirement plans, under contract terms imposed by the Board of Supervisors today.

The Laborers International Union of North America opposed the county's proposal to alter the collective bargaining unit's defined-benefit plans, and after , union officials were informed that, effective Friday, members will be picking up more of their own retirement expenses, according to Ray Smith of the county Executive Office.

Smith said LIUNA Local 777 received the county's last, best offer on the pension issue on Dec. 22, with no response. Declaring negotiations at an impasse, the board voted for imposition, he said.

The new terms and conditions apply exclusively to the pension plan, leaving aside other contract provisions until the union's three-year collective bargaining agreement expires in June.

Calls seeking comment from union representatives were not immediately returned.

With more than 6,000 members, LIUNA Local 777 is the county's biggest bargaining unit, representing forensic investigators, welfare workers, court clerks and others. It sought to stop pension reform efforts initiated by the board in April by petitioning the state Public Employee Relations Board for intervention, Smith said.

To pare down the county's costs, which include an $80 million fiscal year deficit and an unfunded pension obligation exceeding $500 million, the board conceptually approved pension reforms for all employees in April. Many of the reforms could not be implemented without first negotiating with the unions.

Under the current scheme, public safety workers receive benefits based on a "3 percent at 50" formula, fixing  compensation on 3 percent of the average of the three highest-paid years of an employees' career, multiplied by the number of years on the job.

Miscellaneous workers receive benefits based on a "3 percent at 60" formula.

Effective Friday, LIUNA-affiliated new employees' formulas will be lowered to 2 percent at 60. Existing members' pension formulas will not change. However, under the county-imposed terms, all union members will be required to cover all of their own pension contributions.

Under a system in place since 1998, the county has covered the entire amount of an employee's payment into the California Public Employees Retirement System -- 9 percent of a public safety worker's pretax income, and 8 percent of other workers' compensation.

According to Smith, to cushion the hit to LIUNA members' pocketbooks, the county will phase in the new contribution obligations over the next two years.

Recently, the county also imposed new contract terms incorporating pension changes on the Service Employees International Union and the Riverside Sheriffs Association.

Under a four-year collective bargaining deal tentatively approved by the supervisors last week, the Deputy District Attorneys Association agreed to have its 381 members begin paying their own pension contributions and for new hires to receive a reduced pension formula.

The concessions were made after the county agreed to what outgoing board Chairman Bob Buster characterized as overly generous salary increases for the attorneys, some of whom work in the Office of County Counsel, which advises the board on legal affairs.