Well .. pensions is not the only thing that is helping to bankrupt the state. It's also the 37% wage increase one union membership received - which was a perk from Davis to assure they would vote for him.
Unions did a lot of good - initially. Now .. they are pricing the American worker out of the job market. Add to that the employer's cost for medical, pension, environmental, and there is very little profit left.
After all .. people are in business to make a PROFIT. But that has somehow become a dirty word and if a company makes a profit they are immediately branded as greedy. But .. without that profit they cannot expand and hire more workers.
I'm not in favor of unions. I never have been. Employers today don't force their employees to work in sweat shops - that's all been done away with. But .. when you have a person standing on a line .. placing a flyer in a vehicle and that person is making $20/hr - that's outrageous - and that doesn't include benefits which makes that person way too expensive for the job their doing.
The unions keep demanding more wages and more benefits. Where is it going to stop?
In this case, I think L.A. County's union does serve a good purpose. The only other union I'm familiar with is the Teamsters - a bunch of thieves and, yes, thugs.