It had been nearly 15 years since the public safety professionals of Rhode Island Council 94 had their pensions and retirements upended. But thanks to years of dogged activism, their futures will look a lot brighter come Jan. 1.
That’s when changes to Rhode Island’s pension system are set to take effect, finally bringing many AFSCME Rhode Island public safety professionals’ retirements in line with their law enforcement counterparts, providing a huge boost to recruitment and retention for these critical jobs.
“In 2011, there was a massive pension reform,” recalled Adam Hill, a lieutenant for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and an executive board member of Local 2881. “No one was immune from it: teachers, police, fire, state employees … everyone went through this pension reform.”
However, Council 94 public safety professionals — in Hill’s department and across many other divisions — saw their pensions watered down, and their retirements pushed farther out of reach. That forced workers whose jobs often entailed physical exertion — and confrontation — to work well into their 50s or 60s. And it meant a huge blow to recruitment and retention.
“We’re not able to hire people because the applicants just aren’t there,” said Hill, who has protected Rhode Island’s state parks, beaches, wildlife management areas and waters for 18 years.
Though they saw their ranks shrink, Hill and his fellow Council 94 public safety professionals continued speaking out at the statehouse year after year. And that tenacity has finally paid off.
On Jan. 1, they will finally be able to retire at ages and with years of service in line with their police and fire department peers. Also, their pensions will improve substantially, as they are being moved to a defined benefit pension that is far more robust than what they had before.
Now, Hill said, a retirement and pension that was almost two decades away for him is within reach.
“With this, now I can work another six years and retire. I can find another job without having to carry a gun and wear a ballistic vest,” Hill said.
Jason Allaire, a captain with the Rhode Island Division of Sheriffs, would’ve had to work 38 years before he was eligible for his pension. He also spoke to lawmakers about the unfair pension system and the harm it was causing to his agency, which is responsible for transporting inmates to court, providing them and others security while there, executing nationwide extraditions, among many other roles.
“We were losing new officers; newer deputies didn’t want to work 40 years. They could go to a municipality and [retire] after 25 years. It was a no-brainer for every new officer to use this agency as a stepping stone,” he said.
Allaire said the new pension system will do a lot of good.
“Retention and hiring are going to be affected in a positive way,” he said. And for those who were harmed by the original pension changes, “[This] puts us back where we could see the light. I’ll be 55 in April. I have 30 years. There was no light at the end of the tunnel.”
In addition to bringing the voices of public safety members to bear, Allaire also credits the strength and tenacity of Council 94 for the victory.
Joe DeLuca, a juvenile program worker and president of Local 314, who works at Rhode Island’s only juvenile detention center, spotlighted the toll that the previous pension system took on public safety workers like him.
“It’s essentially a younger person’s job,” said DeLuca. “We have to physically restrain young juveniles on a day-to-day basis. We have to apprehend them with our own bare hands. Needless to say, we’re wrestling around with them on the hard concrete floor. The previous system had a lot of people working here up to their late 50s into their 60s. It didn’t make for a very safe environment.”
It was a Council 94 team effort, DeLuca said.
“Council 94 really pulled together. It was great to see the camaraderie, everyone pulling for this. It benefits a lot of people.”
Public safety professionals are increasingly turning to AFSCME to build power at work, and to advocate for safety on the job, better wages, good health care and a secure retirement. AFSCME members in corrections, law enforcement and emergency response defend our freedoms and those of the communities we serve.
Visit the AFSCME Public Safety website to get involved and learn more.