Luis Ramos was a well-known figure in his Jersey City neighborhood for decades. Ramos was the unofficial “Mayor of Ogden Avenue,” and spent nearly 30 years taking care of Janet Moore Park, according to the Jersey City Times (1). Whether it was mowing lawns, planting flowers or greeting generations of families who passed through the community green space, Ramos was there.
But while he faithfully showed up to work year after year, 95-year-old Ramos says he was missing out on something that could have changed his retirement dramatically: a pension. Now living with Alzheimer’s disease, Ramos learned he may have qualified for pension benefits decades ago.
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The discovery has sparked legal action, prompting the city to acknowledge a historic enrollment failure and raised questions about how many workers could be missing retirement benefits they’re entitled to receive.
A lifetime of work with no retirement benefits
Ramos was hired by Jersey City’s Public Works Department in September 1995. According to his daughter, Miriam Romero, city officials repeatedly told her father he wasn’t eligible to enroll in the state’s pension system because he was considered a seasonal employee.
Romero claims that employment records later showed he was actually classified as a permanent provisional employee as of 1998, a status that should have qualified him for pension participation…