![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/union-pension-rally.jpg\")
Unions want to roll back Cuomo-era changes to the pensions of state employees. Photo: Darren McGee\/Office of the Governor.<\/p>\nUnions want state leaders to sweeten their retirement packages. What would it cost and what would it achieve?<\/p>\n
By Sam Mellins \/ New York Focus<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tUnions want to roll back Cuomo-era changes to the pensions of state employees. Photo: Darren McGee\/Office of the Governor.<\/p>\n
This story originally appeared in New York Focus<\/a>, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you were in Albany on March 8, you might have felt the ground shake under your feet as 15,000 public sector union members chanted: \u201cFix Tier 6!\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a cry for state leaders to boost the pensions of government employees. In 2012, the state created a new pension plan, called \u201cTier 6,\u201d that had less generous benefits and required more years of work compared to previous plans. Then-Governor Andrew Cuomo claimed<\/a> the change would save state and local governments $80 billion over three decades.<\/p>\n Now, New York\u2019s top unions want to roll back those changes. They argue it would help keep workers in the public sector, but it won\u2019t come cheap: In dollar terms, it could end up being one of the biggest decisions made in this year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n The campaign has emerged as a major issue in negotiations around the state budget, which is due on April 1. Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n What do the unions want?<\/p>\n The \u201cFix Tier 6\u201d agenda<\/a> contains multiple planks, including lowering the age where workers can retire with full pensions, boosting payments, and reducing employee contributions.<\/p>\n Different unions have different priorities. For the New York State United Teachers, the leading player in the Fix Tier 6 campaign, the top goal is lowering the retirement age to 55, down from 63.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the thing that we believe is impacting retention for our early-career educators,\u201d NYSUT President Melinda Person told New York Focus.<\/p>\n The Public Employees Federation, which represents a wide range of government positions, says its top priority is lowering the amount taken out of workers\u2019 salaries \u2014 currently between 3 and 6 percent \u2014 to pay for their pensions.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of the affordability crisis, putting money into people\u2019s pockets now makes a difference,\u201d PEF Vice President Randi DiAntonio said.<\/p>\n The unions argue that boosting pensions would help attract and retain qualified workers, and cut down on costs for overtime and consultants.<\/p>\n More people work for state and local government in New York now than in 2012, when Tier 6 was enacted, but staffing shortfalls vary by agency.<\/p>\n DiAntonio said the recruiting and retention concerns are most acute at agencies like the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, which runs state prisons. The department has been in turmoil since a three-week<\/a> wildcat strike<\/a> last year, and this year\u2019s proposed state budget allocates over $500 million<\/a> to have the National Guard help staff prisons.<\/p>\n Teacher shortages are relatively rare<\/a> in New York right now, but NYSUT warns<\/a> that a wave of upcoming retirements, and low enrollment in teacher training programs, could lead to scarcity in the next decade.<\/p>\n Would boosting pensions improve state government?<\/p>\n Union leaders say so.<\/p>\n New York AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said in a statement to New York Focus that Tier 6 \u201chas created a recruitment and retention crisis\u201d due to \u201cunprecedented mandatory overtime\u201d and \u201cconstant hiring, training, and backfilling of vacant positions.\u201d<\/p>\n But there may be more cost-effective ways to attract and retain employees.<\/p>\n Several studies have found that public employees value pensions less<\/a> than salaries<\/a> or other benefits like job security and health insurance<\/a>, that boosting pensions can accelerate retirement<\/a>, and that pensions may not help retain<\/a> higher-performing workers.<\/p>\n One of the studies<\/a>, based on a Wisconsin law that cut teacher salaries and pensions, found that teachers respond four times less to pension changes than to salary changes when deciding whether to remain in their jobs.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0Hochul said she\u2019s \u201cfighting for a fairer pension plan\u201d but didn\u2019t provide specifics. Photo: Darren McGee\/Office of the Governor.<\/p>\n Boosting pensions \u201cwould do something\u201d to keep workers, said David Schleicher, a Yale Law School professor who studies state fiscal systems, \u201cbut it\u2019s not clear to me that it is the most or even a mildly efficient method for doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n Boosting pensions does have one advantage for today\u2019s politicians, though. While wage increases require immediate payment, the full bill for a pension boost won\u2019t come due for years.<\/p>\n What would the changes cost?<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear. The union leaders that New York Focus spoke with didn\u2019t have precise cost estimates for their proposals.<\/p>\n Person, the NYSUT president, said that lowering the retirement age would likely cost somewhere between $100 million and $700 million annually.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know what the deal is yet. So it\u2019s hard to nail down a number,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n Subscribe to our free weekly newsletters<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The state Senate and Assembly budget proposals also didn\u2019t provide specific figures, despite their support for boosting pensions.<\/p>\n Some budget watchdogs see this as irresponsible.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect cost estimates in every part of normal life,\u201d said Ken Girardin, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. \u201cAnd yet lawmakers are capable of this cognitive dissonance to endorse a policy proposal when they don\u2019t know the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n Unions say the state can afford the changes, pointing to the strong financial condition<\/a> of New York\u2019s pension funds.<\/p>\n Supporters of Tier 6 argue that it has helped keep New York\u2019s pension funds healthy even as the amount that New York pays for pensions has exploded, from $1 billion a year in 2000 to more than $15 billion post-pandemic. As life expectancies climb, many workers who retire at 55 are expected to collect pensions for longer than they spent working.<\/p>\n Where do state leaders stand?<\/p>\n New York\u2019s top lawmakers have all endorsed the campaign in general, but have been vague about which reforms they actually support.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2400-x-1600-px.webp.jpeg\")
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