Boston Council Weighs Reclassifying 911 Dispatcher Pensions From Group 1 to Group 2

BOSTON — July 29, 2025 — Boston City Council hears testimony on petition to reclassify 911 dispatchers' pension group. Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, the lead sponsor of Docket 1277, convened Tuesday's hearing alongside co-sponsors Councillors Edward M. Flynn and Brian Worrell, with testimony from SEIU Local 888 President Tom McKeever, BPD dispatcher Melinda Santos, and unit president Michael Shackford. Santos told the council that after 24 years on the job she would retire today with only 16 percent of her pension under Group 1 classification; Shackford said virtually no one in the roughly 100-person operations division works a standard 40-hour week, with some logging 90 hours. Louijeune's back-of-the-napkin estimate put the added pension liability at approximately $3 million against an annual payroll of roughly $7.99 million, though she said the retirement board's formal actuarial figures are still pending. Flynn called for a commitment that the council be notified any time a dispatcher works more than 16 hours — noting a dispatcher had done an 18-hour shift on July 12 — and the union's senior business representative Neil O'Brien agreed to that commitment on the record.