Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg, Comptroller Liu and a number of city labor leaders announced an agreement that is intended to “depoliticize,” “professionalize” and “streamline” the way pension funds invest. This consolidation is meant to reduce the complexity, inconsistency and inefficiency of administering five different pension funds. This makes sense.
One significant, but not well understood, fringe benefit is employer contributions to union welfare funds. These City payments are now $1 billion annually. Yet, as this report indicates, these payments serve neither the City nor its workers well.
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