Detroit’s retired workers joined city unions in attacking the city’s record-setting $18 billion bankruptcy, claiming that the law that lets cities seek court protection from creditors violates the U.S. Constitution, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. A court-approved committee for retired workers filed papers in bankruptcy court yesterday saying that Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr filed the case in July with the intention of cutting pensions for retired city workers. Those workers aren’t eligible for federal Social Security benefits, “rendering their entire economic existence dependent upon retirement compensation promised by the city,” the committee said in its objection. In an effort to have the case thrown out at a hearing next month, the retirees and unions plan to question Michigan Governor Rick Snyder under oath about his role in authorizing the bankruptcy. The groups point to a line in the Michigan Constitution that says public worker pensions are a contractual right that cannot be undone.
