Public Employee Press

Governor inks pension bills for 911, Park Rangers

Gov. George E. Pataki has signed into law two bills — one sponsored by DC 37 and one by Local 983 — to improve retirement benefits.

The DC 37-sponsored legislation, signed Oct. 21, lets 911 technicians and dispatchers in the Police Dept. retire after 25 years of service with full pensions, regardless of age.

“We are pleased and proud to have lobbied successfully for this pension improvement for our hardworking 911 PCTs and SPCTs,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

“This new pension plan is long overdue recognition for these workers, who have been on the front lines handling millions of urgent calls each year during every type of emergency — from Sept. 11 and the recent power failure to plane crashes, hurricanes and blizzards,” she said.

“We thank our Political Action Department and Local 1549 for their hard work on this and the governor for signing the legislation,” said Ms. Roberts. DC 37’s 2003 legislative successes now include 10 newly enacted laws that improve benefits and protections for members.

The Local 983 bill, which the governor signed Oct. 7, allows its 250 Urban Park Rangers and Associate UPRs to retire with full pensions after 25 years of service, regardless of age. The governor vetoed similar “25-and-out” bills for Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority maintenance employees and DC 37 Peace Officers.

Local 983 lobbied Albany for the “25-and-out” provision after the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS) limited the application of a comparable 2001 law to special officers in Teamsters Local 237.

Eligible members must make additional contributions of a designated percentage of their annual salary during their career to receive the “25-and-out” coverage.

CORRECTION: The October issue of PEP reported that the “stretch-out” pension benefit requires state and local governments to contribute a minimum of 4.5 percent annually to the pension funds of AFL-CIO members in New York State. The bill excludes all New York City employees, whose pension funds are in NYCERS.