Tuesday, August 12, 2014

MOMMA DON'T LET YOUR CHILDREN TO GROW UP TO BE CITY WORKERS




MUNICIPAL WORKER

I lost my shirt when I went to work. Oh how many there were passing me by as I dug trenches in the dirt saying my labor was simply tax paid welfare for them who couldn’t find a real job. I didn’t care but especially wondered about them who cleared their throat and sent a gob of phlegmy spit my way. Honest work I guess just don’t pay. Even though I was doing it for dirt cheap wages and promises that I’d retire and enjoy a bit of comfort in those future pages. And now, now that those days have come they took the past earned promises all away and closed out the balance sheet book.


© M Durfee
8.12.2014

This one is VERY personal. In the 20 years I worked for the city of Detroit, I helped rebuild and repair 50KW turbines and generators while maintaining the systems that allowed them to run. I worked in a fresh water plant changing out 2 ton Chlorine tanks, maintaining filter beds, and repairing hi and low lift pumps to keep the 38 pounds of pressure throughout the system, I personally handled in four year well over a billion dollars worth of art never broke any of it and always got it hung right the first time, and worked on every traveling exhibition from Wyeth’s Helga to the Vatican’s exhibition which only came to Detroit. And finished up my last 7 years repairing over 1500 vehicles a year, mostly police cars. Trust me no one can fuck up a car faster than a cop. I drove truck and overhead cranes, hilos and crawled down sewer drains.they said do it we got it done.



Then in year 19 I blew my L4-L5 disc out after working for ten years with increasing sciatic pain and working a second job full time for 12 of those 19 years to make ends meet.

This is what is being done to all of us non police and firefighters employees. They got a sweetheart deal and only lose a portion of their COLA.

We already have lost all of our healthcare saving the city $4.5 Billion + up to another $4.5 billion  in the trial if the judge agrees to cut our cash pensions up to 20% or more if certain municipal financial goals are not met. If they are not met the non uniform pensions will be cut to make up the difference. For example if the city goes over budget, we are the well to make up the difference.

2. Half of the debt is unfunded retirement benefits
Being the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy, Detroit has a whopping long-term debt of an estimated $18.2 billion ($27,000 per capita), partly as a result of the fact that it has spent $100 million more annually since 2008 than what has come into the city coffers as revenue. Of this debt, about $9.2 billion consists of unfunded retirement benefits. The situation is exacerbated by a feeble economy, a shrinking population and rapidly increasing legacy costs. Property tax revenues have declined by 20 percent since 2008, while income tax has declined by 30 percent since 2002. The composition of debt is nicely summarized in the following Huffington Post infographic”
http://globalriskinsights.com/2013/08/03/10-facts-about-the-detroit-chapter-9-bankruptcy/
the unfunded liability is from the government spending on shit while they weren't making their contractual obligated payments towards future pension costs, even though it was required by the state constitution. The governor needs this debt wiped out because our pension fund is at 70% funded and if he can get that 30% wiped off the books he'll have a legal precedent for wiping the states 45% underfunding erased. I never minded going first, it's the dangerous part of any job but I hate being the canary in the coal mine.

The most aggravating part for me personally is I stuck it out with this city to this very day, paid every tax and bill due on time, every time and the prose poem part is the general reaction of them who have no skin in this game or stand to profit even more from the bankruptcy. The trial expected to last a few weeks starts in 9 days and personally I believe the fix is in. My pension when you add it all together the loss of medical, having to purchase medical for my wife and the loss of cash drops from $950 a month $520. I am so fucking happy I worked for my community.

19 comments:

  1. sucks man...and to feel you have no say in the matter after giving your sweat and back to it...and for others to look down on you when you are working...feeling they are above you...and yet still working on...

    oh they will find a justification...and they will have their day...ugh...

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    1. Yep! If you're a public school teacher Brian, a word of advice from my friends here to you, watch you ass chances are unless you're extremely profitable to the system the year before you vest will be your most dangerous.

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  2. i am so sorry it has worked out that way for you and, i am sure, for so many others.
    whether it is true or not, sometimes the only comfort i can find in these cases of gross injustice is to hang onto the hope that people eventually get what they deserve, good or bad.

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    1. Kylie, i have no hope but plenty of anger. We'll be OK but then it would be nice to leave town more than every 20 years. that will never happen again.

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  3. You're living in America, right? Because this sounds to me like the mismanaged, corrupt, coffer-filling people who call themselves our Government. The decline, and especially the speed of it, is horrifying. And it is spreading around the globe.... Thank God we don't live forever, I cannot see this ending well.

    And personally, the way you understand my writing, and the words you leave behind, are a hug I always treasure, I love you right back! Thanks for understanding...

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    1. Shadow, my friend the global economy is a simple enlargement from localized theft to global theft. Got to keep them cats fat, because they will work you to death but by God obesity is just so ugly. hahahaah



      thank you buddy!

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  4. This is such a cruel situation! More and more municipalities are going to way corporations have in the past, get liquidated in bankruptcy and leave their people high and dry.

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    1. Yep Rosaria, and our Governor was the same guy that killed gateway computer. Looted their pension funds to pay off loans his investment firm made to the company than broke it up and sold all of the proprietary information to China, if you ever see an ACER computer that is what is left of gateway.

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  5. Ouch, how very sad ~ I would feel very angry at the idea of my pension being swallowed by debts and greed when I have worked my whole life for the city ~ I hope you are able to get a reasonable resolution Mark ~

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    1. beyond sad grace, our pensions were not stolen or poorly invested, they both rank in the top 10% of all funds nation wide, But the Governor was an investment banker and he is using this court case to open a way to dump all state, county and municipal shortages from lack of employer contribution.

      He dumps all that debt and all of a sudden the state moves way up from 46th in attractive places for business' to come in with minimum wage jobs..

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  6. Despicable. My heart hurts for you, Mark. I can't imagine the rage and sense of injustice you must feel. To do everything right and still be kicked in the face...it's disgusting and immoral and I'm so very sorry that you and yours are forced to suffer from others' greed and mistakes.

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    1. Sarah I have decided that my old fat rosy pink ass needs to be kissed and the BK crew judge included can kiss it.

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  7. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

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    1. I'd rather bang bang but they stay fairly well hidden in top floor suites and armored limos to and from court.

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  8. It must feel beyond unbelievable, beyond painful. It sucks to be awake sometimes. The bankers don't have to loot such itty bitty pensions, but they do have to feel righteous that the parasite in the mirror is actually a fat and lazy government worker, and you know we all have to do our part to prop their fragile egos up.

    Check this article out:
    http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36354.htm

    Peace.

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    1. Bill,

      By law pensions funds of public employees can only invest in Wall Street when the investment is rated AAA hence in the great mortgage swaps Goldman-Sachs paid Moody and Fitch for the AAA on that crap.

      The real problem stated though and Tiabbi didn't mention it was Alan Greenspan, an Ayn Rand acolyte, fought for and received the deregulation by killing Glass Steagall, which allowed the investment banks to cross the line to call themselves savings banks. That opened the door to the once untouchable by investment banks pension funds, and the rest he pretty well spelled out.

      Our two pension funds are both for the moment and as far back as i can remember self directed by an elected/appointed board. for all their lack of financial knowledge they were still able to maintain them at near 100% funding , even without the city making contributions until the mortgage shit hit them, but even then I think the loss was less than 7% for both.

      The greater losses came from non Wall Street investments. Both plans used the same vetting Attorney. A guy named Zajack, he;d been working the plans for 30 years and the last 15 he'd been taking kickbacks for getting shitty investments pension money. That took about 15% in losses from both plans.

      So you read about public pensions receiving no federal guaranty--MI is one of 11 states that wrote "public employee pensions are contractual obligations and shall not be diminished or reduced" into the states constitution. That was our guaranty.

      So in 1993 when Coleman Young stepped down after being mayor for 20 years, that is when the contracted payments stopped. For the state they stooped in 1990 under fat John Engler gov for 12 years.

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    2. Now Coleman would actually come to the pension funds and borrow money, and he always paid it back with interest. He was the last mayor to actually borrow, the rest just quit paying.

      But when the bankruptcy was filed a year ago the combined total of both pension was 2.1 billion dollars for 30,000 active and retired employees. But with MI's Emergency manager law Detroit was declared insolvent and with no real attempt to change direction within 6 weeks the Gov. Told the Emergency manager, who is appointed and has full and complete control over every operation of city government, to file for the BK.

      The Gov, because of that constitutional amendment put in place in 1964 had to get us into BK court under Chap 9. Where CONTRACTS can be modified and adjusted.

      The case on the constitutionality of the states rights to it's own constitution is sitting in the 6th circuit right now but unfortunately the state AG has now said he will not litigate the case. Why?

      Remember in the article where it talked of the picture of the praying policeman? here for a full year the EM used the media to communicate that we were unsecured creditors and could lose everything if we didn't agree to his way.

      So in may they sent out ballots 1) for pension cuts and the 2nd) to let the city off the hook for $4.5 billion in medical plans, which the state of IL that has a very similar constitutional protection for public pensions ruled the medical was a part of the pension.

      Few understood that the 2nd ballot was permanently giving up any and all claims to healthcare and in return we would receive a 3rd party administered plan to pay us back 1150 bucks per year for out of pocket expenses. Shit my drugs alone are over $100 a month and i get them through the VA.

      And when that bullshit passed, those of us who were telling people what the legal language meant were drowned out by the media and fear, they passed it and gave up everyone's right to litigate. So majority rule, no mre court case to get what was earned. And like i aid our pension fund the GRS is the well of money the city can always dip into when they come up short.

      ther si so much more but generally within 20 years there will be no defined pension fund and most likely the city will not make contributions to the non defined plan they started for new hires---that is the states model. so if this shit fly's in BK court Detroit has effectively killed every public pension shortfall in the state.

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  9. Mark, can't imagine the frustration. Sucks and is totally unfair. xo

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    1. Yeah but it will be better Jodi, when we move in with you.

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So Walking Man I was thinking...