Public Employee Press

Answering the Big Lie about city worker’ pensions
It's no life of luxury

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

As deficit hawks screech about the high cost of public-employee pensions, you would think that DC 37 retirees are spending their golden years eating caviar and sipping champagne.

In reality, many of the 55,000 DC 37 retirees, particularly those who had low-wage and non-professional jobs, need their pension checks and Social Security just to scratch by.

Many leave the city workforce with credit-card debts or little savings after spending years in low- and modestly paying jobs that at least come with the promise of a secure retirement and health-care coverage.

"At this age, I have never had a vacation and I can't plan for one," said Dorothy Sharpe Spratt, 83. "I don't have the money for it."

How about savings?

"Forget that! I got to pay my bills."

The retired member of Social Service Employees Union Local 371 lives in a one-bedroom co-op in the Bronx. Her monthly pension income is $815, and she gets $1,372 from Social Security.

After meeting her household expenses and struggling to pay down a hefty debt at Macy's, she has little left.

"It's rough," she said.

No Savings For A Rainy Day

Kathleen Rezek, a retired clerical worker, has a monthly income of about $2,200. She says she can support herself on that, but can't squirrel away any savings for a rainy day.

Rezek has received support services from a clinic in the Bronx since her childhood. But she fears she will no longer be able to afford the services if her $5 sliding scale is eliminated because of the loss of city funding under Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget modification.

Most retired DC 37 workers are in the New York City Employees Retirement System, which provides the typical DC 37 pensioner with $17,200 a year. The Board of Education Retirement System covers thousands of DC 37 retirees who worked in nonteaching school jobs and get average pensions of $13,600.

Evictions and Debt

With modest pensions and Social Security, many DC 37 retirees struggle to keep up with their rent. Regular nights out at upscale restaurants are out of the question and some who are homeowners face foreclosure - and come to the union for help.

"Our clients often retire with debt, and it's very hard to catch up once you no longer have income from a job," said Robert A. Martin, associate director of the DC 37 Municipal Employees Legal Services program. Over the years, MELS has had to aid thousands of retirees with financial and legal troubles.

"They have the same problems as a lot of city employees as they face bankruptcies, foreclosures, debt collection and evictions - problems that reflect their limited income and the underlying economy," Martin said.

MELS is helping Shirley Foster, a former Local 372 member who is fighting foreclosure proceedings on the Bronx house where she lives with her daughter and granddaughter.

Foster fell behind on her $2,500 monthly mortgage after being hospitalized for intestinal bleeding and spending months in rehab. She came to the union after she was swindled by two crooked lawyers who pocketed thousands in fees without actually helping, said her daughter, Dorian Peoples, who helps with the mortgage and household expenses.

Foster, 70, retired in 1999 after working 9 years as a Family Assistant in the public school system. She suffered a fall in the office in 1999, and it took her several years to win the disability pension that provides her $184 a month. Her monthly Social Security check is $1,191.

"That's my only income," she said.

Former Sr. School Lunch Aide Rose Thomas lives in a one-bedroom co-op in Brooklyn. The combined income from her pension and Social Security is just over $2,000 a month. She's lucky if she has anything left over at the end of the month once she pays her $900 rent, medical bills, household expenses, installments on an outstanding credit-card bill and cable TV and phone charges.

"I'm not really making it," said Thomas, 68, describing her effort to get by on her fixed income.

"If I had to do it again," Thomas, 68, said, "I would try my best to pay off the cards before retiring."

Health and Financial Troubles

Helen King, who is on 24-hour oxygen support, moved into the Margaret Tietz Center in Jamaica, Queens, after finding she could no longer live on her own. Because she is dependent upon Medicaid, King is forced to pass along her $570 monthly pension and $950 Social Security check to the nursing home, which gives her a monthly $50 allowance.

King, who suffers from scoliosis, kidney disease and arthritis, retired on disability 17 years ago from her job as a clerical worker. Her bank account is depleted because she had to pay the nursing home $3,000 before the Medicaid coverage kicked in. She moved into the home in January.

King manages to appear upbeat despite her health and financial troubles. "With the rents in New York, there are those who have less. Oh, my goodness."

King is one of about 100 retirees who receive phone counseling through the union's Personal Service Unit.

"Our retirees have pensions and Social Security but for many of them it's not enough to get by," said Supervising Social Worker Stephanie Kleinberg, the outreach coordinator of the PSU program.

"It's unusual for people to walk away from the city with a huge retirement pay. Some have no alternative but to spend down their savings to be eligible for Medicaid. It's tragic."