While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker cruised to victory in Tuesday’s failed recall — a stinging defeat for public employee unions in itself — two lower-profile municipal referenda in California that could slash public sector pensions passed overwhelmingly as well. The confluence suggests 2012 will be marked by fights at both the local, state, and national level over retirement security for public sector workers.

Voters overwhelmingly approved ballot measures in both conservative San Diego and liberal San Jose that seek to close municipal budget gaps by cutting worker pensions — not just pension plans for future workers.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a chief backer, said he was surprised by the margin of victory and considered it a statement that voters won't tolerate benefits that are more generous than those they receive working at private companies.

"It just shows the frustration people have with pension benefits that are out of control and taking away from city services," he said in an interview Wednesday. (snip)

Opponents say the measures deprive workers of benefits they were counting on when they got hired. Some workers decided against potentially more lucrative jobs with private companies, figuring their retirement was relatively safe.

Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 in Illinois, said the California referendums reflect a "race to the bottom" to erode government benefits by putting them on par with the private sector.

The legislation would have strengthened protections for women who are being paid less because of their gender by creating larger penalties for employers who discriminate, creating more transparency of salaries so that women know whether they are being paid less, and protecting those who sue for pay equity. (snip)

Pay discrimination isn’t some fantasy of the left — it actually prevents families from higher earnings. On average, women make 77 cents to a man’s dollar. And that’s happening while more women are becoming the primary breadwinners or dual-earners in their family and a larger number of women with high degrees entering the job market.

This pay inequity will also appear in a women's pension and SS benefits. Because of her 77 cents earned for each man's dollar, her pension will also be reduced by the same percentage and her SS retirement benefits will be lower as well. Not to mention, the women has less funds to sock away in her own personal retirement investments/accounts (if she can at all).