Lawyers for teachers' unions won orders that temporarily blocked full implementation of a new law affecting school employee retirement benefits hours after Gov. Rick Snyder signed it.
Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina granted an injunction that gives more than 200,000 public school employees more time to decide whether to pay more toward their pension, accept a lower pension for future years of service or freeze their pension and switch to a defined contribution 401(k)-style plan, said Mark Cousens, attorney for the American Federation of Teachers Michigan.
The legislation Snyder signed Tuesday requires school employees hired before 2010 to pay more to help shore up their beleaguered retirement system and decide which option they'll take by Oct. 26.
AFT Michigan argued in court papers the 52-day period is not a reasonable amount of time for school workers to make a "major, life altering" retirement financial planning decision at the start of the school year.
Also Tuesday, Snyder said his administration will appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court a previous court decision finding the state's 3 percent wage deduction from school employees for retirement health care is unconstitutional.
