A way forward on pensions
AFSCME and its partners in the We Are One Illinois coalition have released a detailed critique of the so-called pension reform pushed by Gov. Pat Quinn and leaders in the General Assembly, as well as an alternative plan that is constitutional and fair to public employees while providing additional funding for vital public services.
This new video from We Are One Illinois features AFSCME Local 1989 president Elllen Larrimore (a library specialist at
Northeastern Illinois University), AFSCME Local 2081 president Steve Mittons (a child protection specialist in the
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services) and AFSCME Local 1866 executive board member Jose Prado (a
correctional sergeant at Stateville Correctional Center), along with teachers, a nurse and other members of coalition unions.
The union coalition's study found that Quinn's plan (HB 1447) would deprive retirees of one-third of their purchasing power over 20 years. It would force public workers to choose between retiree health care or a significantly reduced cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and because the COLA would not keep up with inflation, pension payments would effectively be cut every year.
As a result, the Quinn plan would put the burden for solving the state’s pension-funding crisis entirely on the backs of middle-class workers and retirees, the coalition found.
“The governor and these legislative leaders, when they’re talking about ‘shared sacrifice,’ they’re talking about employees and retirees,” Council 31 Executive Director Henry Bayer said. “They’re not talking about anyone else.”
The We Are One Illinois alternative plan would put in place an ironclad guarantee that the state would pay its share into pension funds. The union coalition is also pressing to eliminate $2 billion in corporate tax loopholes to provide revenue to support critical services and operations – for decades, politicians have raided pension funds to pay these expenses.
In return for a guarantee from the state to fully fund pensions, public employees would pay 2 percent more on a phased-in basis toward their pensions.
Joining AFSCME in announcing the plan were the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, the Illinois Nurses Association and SEIU Local 73.
The coalition also called on the Quinn administration and legislative leaders to attend a January pension summit to work constructively toward a solution that protects public employees’ retirement security while addressing the state’s fiscal issues.
On Jan. 3 and 4, AFSCME members and retirees will join other unions at the state Capitol to rally against Quinn’s “reform” legislation and to lobby state legislators to support the We Are One Illinois proposal.
For more information about the coalition’s plan and its analysis of the Quinn proposal, visit the We Are One Illinois website.