Dean Administration Proposes “Wide-Ranging Changes” to Employee & Retiree Benefits!

As was mentioned in the Nashville City Paper, the Dean Administration has proposed “wide-ranging changes” to the Metro employee and retiree benefit programs. If the Mayor gets his way, retirement security for tens of thousands of workers and retirees in Middle Tennessee is at serious risk.
 
What Do They Want to Do?

First, take a look at the actual memo that Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling presented to the Study & Formulating Committee on August 18.

Now that you've read that memo, there are a couple of things that need to be clear. First and foremost, the Administration is trying to “cost shift” more onto the employees and retirees. “Cost shifting” is Wall Street’s way of saying that you would pay more out-of-pocket for your health insurance and your retirement. As you can see in the third bullet point on the Riebeling memo, "require employee contribution" means that all current employees will take a pay cut as money from their check is put into a new defined contribution plan.

Now, consider this...

• Metro employees haven’t had a raise in four years, even though the cost of living has gone up on food, gas, rent, and just about everything else (including health insurance).
• Increments that were promised to employees when they were hired have been frozen by the administration for four years.
• Longevity pay, also promised to employees and codified in the Charter, have been frozen for two out of the last four years.

All of this has been done supposedly because of a “bad economy”, but remember...

• The economy wasn’t in a tailspin until late 2008, but that didn’t stop the Mayor from freezing increments & longevity for two budget cycles before the Great Recession’s effects were felt in Middle Tennessee.
• The economy seems to be bad enough to pass over employees, but apparently good enough for the city to bankroll a new Convention Center & Hotel to the tune of over $600 million. For the record, the city’s bond rating has been downgraded because of the Music City Center project and it is already over budget halfway through construction.
• The figures put forth about local job creation at the MCC have been misleading and unsubstantiated.

And yet, despite the “bad economy” that seems to be prompting the Administration to cut costs on benefits, there are still serious discussions underway at the Courthouse to have a new Nashville Sounds ballpark that the taxpayers would subsidize in some fashion.

Baseball = YES! Parks, Libraries, and Public Safety = MAYBE.

This is about priorities. Either the Administration supports quality public services and the employees who deliver them or they support the corporate welfare projects of the Chamber of Commerce. Are their priorities the same as yours?  As our community’s?

What Can You Do About It?

Thankfully, unlike in the private sector, changing employee and retiree benefits is a process and the public gets a say in that process. To push his changes through, the Mayor needs the approval of the Benefit Board, the Civil Service Commission, and the Metro Council. 

We want to include ALL Metro employees, retirees, and their families in this process and we encourage all who are concerned to join with SEIU Local 205 to help preserve what Metro employees have worked hard to earn.

There are many activities that Local 205 will be working on along with our union brothers and sisters in the police and fire unions. But we need General Government employees and retirees taking action and getting involved. Please call the Union Hall at 227-5070 to find out what you can do to help protect the middle class in Middle Tennessee.