SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A union representing state workers proposed changes to a government pension program on Wednesday that could require some employees to stay in their jobs longer before retiring.

Carter Bundy of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees offered a range of proposals to a legislative committee for shoring up the Public Employees Retirement Association pension plan. Among the options: changing the retirement age for future state workers, trimming cost-of-living payments for retirees and altering the average salary calculation that helps to determine a worker's pension benefits.

"This is not an easy thing for a union to come up here and talk about," Bundy told the Investment and Pensions Oversight Committee. "But we want to make sure that these plans are there for the long haul and that these are solvent for the foreseeable future — 75, 100 years, as long as you can reasonably plan these things out."