Some state and local governments are trying to cut the pensions of their employees, despite years of legal promises and union contracts. Driven by tighter budgets, cities like San Diego are searching through past agreements, looking for loopholes to cut pension benefits that the community governments consider to financially burdensome. While such cases are still isolated, some workers fear that such efforts are a sign of things to come.
See "Once Safe, Public Pensions Are Now Facing Cuts", Mary Williams Walsh, The New York Times, November 5, 2006