Firefighters

Last week’s events in Wisconsin largely dominated the “Right-to-Work” news cycle, but Republicans in West Virginia and Michigan have been hard at work on the issue as well, with varying results.

The Memphis City Council’s new 2015 budget includes major changes to city employees’ health insurance, a big business win that has many public employees considering a change in profession.

Three U.S. Senators recently introduced a bill to eliminate defined benefit plans for federal fire fighters and other government employees. Contrary to the bill’s name — the Public-Private Employee Retirement Parity Act — the legislation would clearly do nothing to create parity among public and private retirement systems, forcing federal fire fighters to rely solely on an expensive and unpredictable 401(K)-style system.

The families of service members who have lost their lives in the line of duty are being made to wait indefinitely for survivor benefits. The government shutdown and furlough of workers has left the department that processes these benefits unstaffed.

Transgender widow Nikki Araguz's marriage battle is moving onward to the 13th District Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi, which will hear her marriage case today. Araguz is attempting to have the marriage to her late husband, Thomas Araguz III, be recognized by the State of Texas. Araguz will be able to then receive her late husband's death benefits. Thomas Araguz was a volunteer firefighter in Wharton and was killed in the line of duty in 2010.