Mr. Bernstein said that if the initiative passes with 60 to 70 percent of the vote, that he would expect the unions to be reasonable. "It would be a very bad public relations ploy on their part to oppose it.

Given the unions' past tone deafness on this issue I think we can be assured they will file suit after the measure passes.

There is no doubt that the unions will sue to overturn a successful initiative like this, because they are entirely motivated by greed. That is their right, as it is the right of sensible taxpayers to oppose them utterly.

I agree with the last commentor. Just see what happened in San Jose recently. The fire fighters would not take a 9% pay cut to save 49 of their fellow fire fighters' jobs. The public sector workers and their union representatives have to realize that things have changed. People in the private sector are having to work harder for less.

I would gladly take the pension benefits that the reform initiative will implement. It's better than anything I'll ever get by working in the private sector. And, it is just what our public school teachers get now.

Peter you were right! The citizens do have a say. But then, the unions don't understand this.

What is happening is that pensions and retirement at 50 for public workers was great as long as the pain could be deferred, things didn't appear out of whack with the private sector, there weren't the tools to see what was happening and there was litle impact on services because of the relatively small number of retirees. Now the giveaway is revealed due to reversal of all these trends: there are more retirees, people are living longer so the defined benefit liability is much higher than expected, private sector pay has stagnated (if one has a job), and there aren't revenues (despite high state tax rates) to pay for generous pensions and maintain services. The public sector unions (and most unions from what I can tell) are about getting what they can for themselves. In this case, the logical extension is that unions will get theirs and the rest of the public will pay no matter what. This is the difference between what is good for society as a whole vs. what is best for the individual (as represented by unions). The tide has turned now that the public is becoming more aware of this issue and the union self-interest is exposed. The next trend may well be that different pension packages are set up for younger employees, followed by an emphasis on hiring more junior people due to budgetary concerns. The fundamental relationship of trust between public workers and the public has been irreversibly broken (which not surprisingly is why unions don't want individuals to be able to have a say in their pay). In this day of the internet and more information disclosed, unions will not be able to play the games of the past and the sooner this is realized, the better for all involved. The idea of shared sacrifice from everyone but those who get their income by taxing others is not sustainable.