Jury trial planned for Rhode Island pension reform lawsuit

(Reuters) - A Rhode Island judge on Tuesday agreed to send a union-backed lawsuit over the state's sweeping 2011 public pension reform to a jury trial, scheduled for April 20, a court spokesman confirmed. The pension changes were spearheaded by Treasurer Gina Raimondo, who will take office as Governor in January after winning at the polls in November, at least in part because of her pension efforts. Rhode Island's overhaul has been used by other state and local governments across the United States as a model to rein in ballooning costs of retirement benefits for public-sector workers. The 2011 changes suspended cost-of-living adjustments, raised the retirement age, moved workers onto a hybrid pension plan and reduced future benefits for current employees. A deal that Raimondo and other state officials reached a this year with firefighters, teachers and retirees would have avoided a trial. But police union members rejected the agreement, prompting mediation to fail in April. A spokeswoman for Governor Lincoln Chafee and one of the unions involved in the suit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by David Gregorio)