Don’t let the facts get in the way of an editorial about public employees (“Pension Pressure” 6/20/11). In Massachusetts the average public pension is 88% self-funded by employees, which is way more than what New Jersey employees would pay even if that state adopts the sweeping pension reforms that so impress the Herald. Going forward, the percentage of self-funded pensions will be increasingly higher here, as most public employees pay a staggering 11% of every paycheck to fund their own retirement. The average pension for a Massachusetts state worker is near the poverty level at $26,000, and most public sector retirees here don’t receive traditional Social Security payments. The New Jersey plan that the Herald exalts as the solution to a pension problem “much deeper” than ours cannot hold a candle to the current pension system we already have. First, New Jersey retirees get Social Security benefits while ours do not, saving Massachusetts taxpayers tens of millions each year. Second, even if the New Jersey pension plan does pass, teachers and other non-uniform workers in the Garden State will pay 7.5% of their pay and fire fighters and police will pay 10%, still less than the 11% paid by most of our public employees.

Working people are not the cause of the unfunded liability here in Massachusetts, and honest public employees should not be penalized or scapegoated for decisions made by politicians of the past who forewent responsible investments in the pension system, or for the unethical and reckless behavior of financial firms the state trusted to manage our funds. The Herald should start reporting the truth about public employees instead of praising as “showing up Massachusetts” states that do not demand as much from their workers as this state does from ours.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Haynes, President

Massachusetts AFL-CIO

http://www.massaflcio.org/