Detroit Ruling Opens Door to Pension Cuts Across the Nation

Credit: nitram242 via Flickr

Alana Semuels
L.A. Times
December 8, 2013

For 34 years, Gwendolyn Beasley worked as a clerk at the Detroit Public Library and paid a portion of her salary into a fund that would someday help pay for her pension.

Now retired, Beasley, 67, receives $1,500 a month from that pension. But she’s cutting back on spending after a judge ruled last week that Detroit’s pension funds, like other city creditors, may have to take a hit as the city reorganizes its finances under bankruptcy.

“I think it’s so very unfair,” Beasley said. “We retired expecting to get a certain amount of benefits. Now you’ve pulled the rug out from under us.”

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