The key take away:
If the union were less intransigent, or if the city were able to act unilaterally to get its finances in order, police officers might have been willing to accept wage freezes and a transition to a defined-contribution retirement plan in order to prevent layoffs and keep more officers on the streets. As it stands, new legislation will effect a wage freeze, at least until a new contract is signed. And a emergency financial manager, if appointed, will probably take a very close look at the city’s pension and other benefits and will be able to act without permission from the union. But this will come too late for those officers already let go — or for the victims of crimes that might have been averted with a stronger police force.
Cities and states will continue to crash upon the rocks as long as they are committed to long term benefits for people whom they no longer employ and/or those people have paid little or nothing into their pension fund.
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