Can you trust them?
When they give you their word of honor, should you trust them?
When they have a contract with you, can you trust them to live up to their obligations?
If you work for New York City, your union has negotiated a contract with the government that covers your employment, and your retirement benefits. There are over a hundred different union locals such as teachers, plumbers, EMS, firefighter, sanitation.
All of these employees have been contractually entitled to receive free healthcare while working, and continued free healthcare when retired.
The City is contractually obligated to provide that. Many teachers, for example, say one of the major reasons they took the job was for the healthcare benefits. They did their 25 years, always looking forward to that day they'll retire, knowing they would continue getting their health insurance paid for by the city.
But last year the city decided to renege on those contracts, and tried to force all of the 250,000 plus retirees onto a Medicare Advantage plan (from a private for profit insurance company) that they would have to pay for themselves. The benefits promised long ago would disappear. The retirees could be paying another $5000 per year, which could be a big chunk of your pension check.
If NYC government can unilaterally decide to break that contract, why would you trust them to honor any contract they've signed.
If you can't trust your own government then WHY DO YOU KEEP VOTING THEM BACK IN??
Thankfully, there are people fighting back againnst the city.
https://www.nycretirees.org/
https://www.facebook.com/NYCRetirees/
These people are sueing the city to preserve their contractually promised premium-free healthcare. If you know anyone who is a retired city worker, direct them towards that website.