This is true in Illinois as well. When the unions strike a deal that involves pensions. Usually its trading pay for pensions, it almost always ends up being retroactive to someone. This should be considered fraud but its not. For instance, a government union employee works 25 years expecting a 50% pension, forgoes a few years of pay increases and instead gets a 55% pension for the rest of her life. A few years later they bargain to get the retro pay increases.
They do this to stop the unions from striking and to balance the budget for the time the politicians are in office. Pensions are someone elses problem. Because they go into affect later even if they are retro. A politician sound like they are bargaining well when you hear about a pay freeze. And nobody notices the pensions just got a lot more expensive.
Wisconsin is the only state that has this right. Unions can bargain for pay. But not for pensions. Wisconsin is the only state in the union with a pension surplus.
Sounds like a policy to live by for everyone. Thanks for sharing.