"Without the usual bargaining with unions, a new [California] pension reform raises the amount roughly a third of state workers pay toward their pensions, an increase of 1 to 3 percent of pay over the next two years. The small bite from worker paychecks ... is for state workers not already paying half the 'normal' cost of their pensions, a new standard set by the bill. There has been little public mention of the increase imposed on current workers and apparently no protests from unions, which tend to view any reduction in pension benefits after the date of hire as a violation of 'vested' rights protected by contract law."

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