L.A. City Council approves early retirement plan despite opposition
The proposal also calls for postponing raises for thousands of workers to balance the budget without layoffs or closing City Hall twice a month. But one union threatens a court challenge.The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to move ahead with a plan to give early retirement to 2,400 employees while postponing raises for thousands of others, hoping to balance the budget without laying off workers or closing City Hall two days a month.
Before the council even cast its vote, a representative of another union said his members probably would file a court challenge to the early retirement proposal, a copy of which has not been released by city officials.
"The [plan] that they're proposing is not legal," said Bob Aquino, executive director of the Engineers and Architects Assn., which represents roughly 7,800 city workers and is not part of the coalition.
He accused the council of excluding some unions from its early retirement talks. And he warned that the council has not been provided with a legally required actuarial study that would spell out the long-term cost of the plan to the city's pension system, which is projected to consume an increasingly large share of the city budget over the next five years.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF MR. AQUINO ADDRESSING CITY COUNCIL AT TODAY'S MEETING.
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