Page 3 - Work Force May 2024

CSEA celebrates Tier 6 pension plan reform in State Budget
Victory!
Another Step Forward to Improve Tier 6
Final average salary is now the top 3 earning years, instead of 5, which will increase the value of your pension.
Any overtime earnings will continue to be excluded from the pension contribution rate for 2 more years.
Members did this by holding rallies, making calls, sending emails, and lobbying legislators.
For More Information
cseany.org/issues
ALBANY — Our union is celebrating the inclusion of reforms to the Tier 6 pension plan in the FY 2025 State Budget.
As this edition was going to press, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislators had recently finalized the spending plan.
The budget includes several wins for CSEA members, most notably the reforms to Tier 6 that pose another major step in pension reforms.
“We applaud
Governor Hochul,
Senate Majority
Leader Andrea
Stewart-Cousins, and
Assembly Speaker
Carl Heastie for their
strong leadership in
fighting for pension equity for Tier 6 members,” said CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan.
The enacted state budget includes a change to how pensions are calculated. Under the new law, a Tier 6 employee’s pension will be based on their top three years of earnings instead of five years. Any overtime earnings will continue to excluded from pension contribution rates for two more years.
These changes will increase retirement security for Tier 6 employees and make Tier 6 look more like earlier pension tiers.
“The state, local governments, school districts, and other public employers are finding it extremely difficult to recruit and retain employees – Tier 6 is a big part of the problem,” said Sullivan. “The reforms in this budget will make the
pension more valuable and appealing to New Yorkers considering a career in the public sector.”
CSEA members across the state have been urging lawmakers to include Tier 6 reforms in the budget.
Since January, CSEA members have sent more than 10,000
emails and made thousands of phone calls to state legislators and the Governor. Members also participated
in rallies across the state urging for reforms.
For more information about the final FY 2025
State Budget, watch CSEA’s website at cseany.org.
“The state, local governments, school districts, and other public employers are finding it extremely difficult to recruit
and retain employees – Tier 6 is a big part
of the problem. The reforms in this budget will make the pension more valuable and appealing to New Yorkers considering
a career in the public sector.”
May 2024
The Work Force 3
State Sen. Tim Kennedy, who was seeking election to New York’s 26th Congressional District as this edition went to press, joins CSEA Western Region activists to support pension reforms. From left to right, Western New York DDSO Local Executive Board member Torri Gallivan, Buffalo Psychiatric Center Local Secretary Keith Harwell, State Sen. Tim Kennedy, Niagara DOT Local President Jimmy Jones and Buffalo Psychiatric Center Local activist Kayla Mootry. (Photo by Chris Rackl)