the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Sep 17, 2012
California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new pension law for state employees that he called, “the biggest rollback to public pension benefits... in the history of California pensions.”
The law boosts what 75,000 current state employees pay for their benefits–which amounts to a two to three% pay cut. It also freezes current employee pension benefits. Newly hired state employees will be required to pay more, for substantially lower benefits. And the age when they will be able to receive full benefits will be boosted from 55 to 67.
Benefit levels had already been frozen for almost two decades, and almost all employees had already been paying a bigger chunk of the benefit costs. As a result, Governor Brown could brag that his new “reform” will slash benefits to levels that are lower than when he previously served as governor in the early 1980s!
Democrats and Republicans in the California State Legislature overwhelmingly approved this attack that was signed by Brown, a Democrat.
On the same day the legislature passed this bill, it also voted to extend tax credits for television and movie productions. Under this bill, media companies, which have already received 100 million dollars a year in tax credits since 2009, will continue to get these credits into 2017.
The money taken from workers is handed over to the rich.