November 7, 2009 Union: NYC teachers pension checks canceled

NEW YORK (AP) - Bank of New York Mellon says it is working to correct a problem that caused the electronic cancelation of the pension checks of tens of thousands of retired New York City teachers and school staff.

New York City union officials say the cancelation was due to an error that occurred sometime Thursday night or early yesterday, just days after the checks totaling $185 million were deposited.

The bank oversees electronic transfers for the city's Teachers Retirement System, which serves 178,000 current and former city educators. The checks are part of the monthly pension payments the city makes through the comptroller's office.

The union that represents principals and other administrators says many retirees had already written checks or withdrawn the money.

The bank says it will compensate for any overdraft fees.