Just 1% of Retirees Sinks the Pension Deal
Monday, April 07, 2014
The 254 police votes - just 1.075 percent of the total eligible to vote, has sunk the pension compromise.
The arcane voting structure set up by the court gave each individual union the ability to sink the entire deal. The police union membership - the smallest group - with just 254 "No" votes stopped the agreement for more than 23,000 eligible.
“For over a year the Governor and Treasurer participated in good faith in court-ordered mediation leading up to the February 14 settlement agreement. This morning, in court, we learned the results of the first round of voting from the plaintiffs. The court has ordered all parties back into mediation. The state will continue to participate in this court-ordered mediation,” said Joy Fox of Gina Raimondo's office and Debbie Rich of Governor Chafee's office.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe pension reform battle has now raged for two years.
Reported results by group are:
Teachers: 7,442 eligible, 2,320 ballots received: 31% vote to reject
Retirees: 6,840 eligible, 1,810 ballots received: 26% vote to reject
State: 5,045 eligible,1,697 ballots received: 34% vote to reject
Municipal: 3,261 eligible, 504 ballots received: 15% vote to reject
Fire: 619 eligible, 170 ballots received: 27% vote to reject
Police: 417 eligible, 254 ballots received: 61% vote to reject
Related Slideshow: Timeline - Rhode Island Pension Reform
GoLocalProv breaks down the sequence of events that have played out during Rhode Island's State Employee Pension Fund reform.
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