About Us
Why We Need to Protect Public Pensions
Protect Public Pensions is a coalition of working families, concerned citizens and state and municipal employee labor unions representing more than one million working men and women.
Our members and supporters include taxpayers, working families, police officers, firefighters, correction officers, teachers, subway and bus supervisors, county municipal employees, pipefitters and steamfitters to name a few.
We are concerned about the State and the City of New York’s irresponsible rush to divest public pension funds from fossil fuels industries, which will result in lower returns on investments and the need for increased state and city contributions – that means higher taxes or service cuts that will hurt all New Yorkers.
What We Stand For
No reasonable person doubts that climate change is real, and that we must find ways to deal with it effectively.
But forcing public employees and New York taxpayers to quickly and completely divest from fossil fuels will have little or no impact on climate change, yet it will have a severe economic impact on working men and women in New York.
It also could mean higher taxes or service cuts if the new “green” investment that replace fossil fuels perform poorly and create an unfunded pension plan.
The $200 million Common Retirement Fund holds the assets of the New York State and Local Retirement System. It represents about 650,000 active state and local employees and 452,000 retirees.
A recent report, commissioned by the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees, found that the Fund would lose up to $302 million over five years if forced to divest from fossil fuels – which earn around an 8% annual return – and replace them with “green” investments that return 3% to 5%. Contributions also would rise by at least $21.4 million over that period.
The report also said that converting almost $1 billion in fossil fuel investments could force state and local governments to raise taxes or cut services, including healthcare, public safety and education.
Our position is that fiduciaries need to engage with us to come up with a strategy that is equitable to everyone.
Across the country large public-sector unions and major colleges and universities have resisted calls from students and environmental lobbyists for total divestment for good reason.
The largest public pension fund in the country, the $310 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has rejected a full-scale divestment of fossil fuels, as has the $184.8 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). The CalPERS board said the best approach would be to “diversify the investments of the system” to minimize losses and maximize returns.
Labor always has — and always will — fight for progressive change in this country, even when that means reminding our friends in the environmental community that they can’t solve climate change on the backs of the pensions of public workers.
