During organized labor's heyday, a mark of a great union was its ability to get businesses to pay people not to work. "Featherbedding," it was called, and the good ones could often get two or three people on payroll for every actual job.

Today's equivalent, most prominent in taxpayer-supported public employee unions, is the early retirement bonus. Governments use them as a way to pare the employee rolls without laying off people. They persuade the higher-paid older workers to retire, reducing the payroll while opening the way for lower-paid, younger people to advance.

So what's the problem? Well, usually it comes in the form of persuasion used to entice the workers to take the deal. In Riverside County's case, and it is not alone, it was giving the retiring employees a two-year "bonus" on their pensions, which are based on a percentage of salary ---- the highest salary earned ---- times years worked.

As has been well-established, public employee pensions are out of control.

Taxpayers are essentially paying one employee not to work for nearly every employee they pay to work. These early retirement bonuses only serve to exacerbate the problem.

Like many of its fellow governments, Riverside County is hoping greener pastures lie in the future when these bills come due. And come due they will.

A report to the Board of Supervisors this week says the county will save $16 million this year and $21 million next year, thanks to the early retirements.

And that's important savings when county leaders are staring at a $100 million budget shortfall.

But passing the problem down the line only makes the problem tougher to deal with later. A statewide taxpayer advocacy group calculates that every year of extra retirement credit an employee gets costs taxpayers $52,000. That's $104,000 for each of the 830 who took the deal. That works out to more than $86 million.

Those featherbedding unions of yore would be proud.