NY Unions Push $100B Pension Sweetener, Raising Taxes

Lawmakers urged to reject union demands to retroactively change public pension rules

Published on Mar. 2, 2026

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New York's public employee unions are pressuring Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to retroactively change public pension rules that have been in place for over a decade. The unions claim the current rules are unfair, and are demanding that workers hired since 2012 pay less toward their taxpayer-guaranteed, state-tax-exempt pensions. Experts estimate the unions' demands could cost taxpayers around $100 billion.

Why it matters

The unions' demands, if enacted, would significantly increase the financial burden on New York taxpayers through higher property taxes. Previous pension rule changes in 2009 and 2012 were intended to rein in ballooning pension costs that had caused property taxes to skyrocket. Undoing these reforms would undo the progress made and leave taxpayers vulnerable to another fiscal crisis.

The details

The unions want to allow public workers, including teachers and state agency office staff, to retire with full pensions (plus taxpayer-funded retiree health insurance) at age 55. This is despite defined-benefit pensions becoming increasingly rare in the private sector. The unions have avoided putting their demands in a formal bill, likely to prevent an actuarial analysis that would reveal the massive price tag. Instead, they are pushing Hochul to quietly include the changes in the state budget.

  • The unions plan to bus thousands of members to Albany this coming weekend for a rally pushing their demands.
  • Two years ago, the unions got Hochul to sign off on a seemingly minor pension calculation change that ended up costing taxpayers over $4 billion.

The players

Kathy Hochul

The Governor of New York who the unions are pressuring to include their pension demands in the state budget.

Ken Girardin

A fellow at the Manhattan Institute who has analyzed the unions' pension demands and their potential cost to taxpayers.

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What they’re saying

“Even after two rounds of reforms in 2009 and 2012, pension costs still kept rising: They didn't peak until 2015, by which time they were 15 times what they'd been in 2000.”

— Ken Girardin, Fellow, Manhattan Institute (nypost.com)

What’s next

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The takeaway

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