Not too long after the sordid reign of Bill Campbell as mayor of Atlanta began — a reign that included turning the streets of Atlanta into a Third World flea market during the Centennial Olympic Games — we got our first real hint that our city was in for a rough ride.
Campbell called a news conference. Sitting at a table next to some city employee union leaders, Campbell announced that he had negotiated an agreement whereby he, as mayor, would not support any initiative or ordinance that would cost one union city worker his or her job. It mattered not if money could be saved or city services could be improved — if it meant costing a union job, it was off the table.
And so it was that early in the Campbell administration we learned that Atlanta was going to be operated by unions on behalf of unions and the taxpayers were getting shoved aside. Let’s reflect on how that worked out for us. Better than it worked out for Campbell, that’s for sure.
Perhaps the greatest damage done to Atlanta taxpayers was the feeling of empowerment union leaders got that allowed them to run roughshod over the city and the taxpayers during the ensuing years; right up until about now, that is.
Now there’s a new sheriff in town. Mayor Kasim Reed. I’ll confess to being as surprised by Reed’s push to reform Atlanta’s pension system as I was by Campbell’s “I Heart Unions” news conference. The taxpayers should give thanks for the presence of an adult at City Hall to deal with Councilman C.T. Martin’s diaper-changing needs as Martin holds his breath and throws tantrums over Reed’s plans.
AJC reporter Russell Grantham stated the problem well in his March 27 piece, “Public pension crisis threatens your wallet.” After Campbell’s grant of virtual immunity to the unions, they proceeded to demonstrate their strength in two subsequent elections by cajoling the City Council into raising pension benefits twice — both times without making any provisions whatsoever to pay for those increases.
Both increases happened during election years. Why election years? Because unions know they can put union campaign contributions, union votes and union volunteer help on the line during an election to support complicit candidates. It’s a pretty sweet deal when you can spend huge amounts of money and provide copious amounts of volunteer time — not to mention votes — to the very City Council candidate with whom you will be negotiating months later for pay and pension benefit increases. Funny how these election years work. The result? Atlanta is now running no less than a $1.5 billion liability in its funding of city worker pensions, and spending about 20 percent of its budget on union pension contributions compared to the 8 percent average in metro counties.
The City Council’s finance committee has now proposed a reform plan that will maintain the heart of the existing defined benefit plan (with some minor changes) for existing workers, while moving all new employees into a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan. The unions — no surprise here — are screaming bloody murder. Let them. They’ve been abusing the taxpayers for decades now, and it’s time for a little taxpayer relief. Grantham’s article reveals that 86 percent of government employees have traditional pension plans. That figure for the private sector would be 36 percent. It’s time for reform — time for government workers to live by the same pension rules as the rest of us.
The City Council, and C.T. Martin, have been cowering before union power for long enough. The council should stop the political posturing and enact this reform now. Certainly city workers — most of them — need to be respected and paid a fair wage, but a pension plan, bought with union coercion, that is far more generous than anything a private sector worker can even dream of can no longer be defended.
Listen to Neal Boortz live from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays on AM 750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB.
His column appears every Saturday. For more Boortz, go to boortz.com
