This is what really stuck out in that article:
Quote:
|
Their lawyers argued the law violates contract, property and collective bargaining rights guaranteed by the Florida Constitution. A 1974 law that eliminated employee contributions to the retirement system also describes pension benefits as a contract right. It was passed at that time in lieu of a pay raise.
|
What's frustrating about the ongoing attack on "benefits" is that health insurance and pension aren't presents from the boss to the employee; they are part of the employee's pay, and were agreed upon years ago because the boss, whether private or public, didn't want to pay employees what they were worth. So they negotiated lower pay at the moment for benefits later. And now that "later" has arrived, the bosses are all trying to get out of paying them. And somehow it's being spun as the workers' fault- for expecting an employer to honor an agreement. Because shut up, that's why.