Public employees, retirees urge high court to declare pension cuts unconstitutional
Yesterday – Tuesday, March 11 – the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether it should uphold a circuit court ruling that a law cutting the pension benefits of employees and retirees in SERS, SURS and TRS is unconstitutional.
Attorneys for the We Are One Illinois union coalition, of which AFSCME is a leading member, urged justices to let stand the ruling, which declared Senate Bill 1 (Public Act 98-599) unconstitutional and void.
Following the hearing, Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael T. Carrigan, speaking for We Are One Illinois, said the 2013 pension law was both unconstitutional and grossly unfair.
"Over a lifetime of service, active and retired workers contributed to their pensions faithfully out of every paycheck,” Carrigan said. “Most of these public servants don’t qualify for Social Security, so their modest pensions are their life savings. Make no mistake: We’re here today due to the failure of politicians to pay the state’s share. Workers and retirees shouldn’t be punished for a problem they didn’t create.”
AFSCME retiree Becky Spinner said worries about retirement security left her and her husband “living in fear.”
"My husband and I are soon to celebrate our 45th anniversary. We should be able to enjoy these years. But it feels like we are all just living in fear, not knowing if the retirement we earned is going to be there for us," Becky said. "This problem was caused by the politicians, but they want to take it out on workers and retirees. We’re asking the Supreme Court to uphold the Constitution and put a stop to it."
We Are One Illinois attorneys argued that the Supreme Court should stand by its July ruling in a separate case on retiree health care benefits, when a bipartisan majority indicated support for the “plain language” of the state Constitution’s pension protection clause, which holds that retirement benefits for public employees cannot be “diminished or impaired.”
“The framers of our constitution knew this day could come, when politicians might seek to avoid keeping their promises, opting instead to deny teachers, first responders, nurses, and other public employees and retirees their promised retirement. That’s why they made the language in the Illinois Constitution crystal clear,” Carrigan said.
SB 1 reduces the value of pension benefits by one-third or more over 20 years in retirement by slashing cost-of-living adjustments and making other unfair, unconstitutional cuts to the pensions of working and retired members of SERS, SURS and TRS. The average pension benefit in these systems is approximately $32,000 a year.
“We are fighting not just for dignity in retirement for working people, but also for the integrity of the Constitution and the basic principle of fairness,” Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said. “Working people and retirees earned their modest pensions and always paid their share. They shouldn’t be punished for the failures of politicians.”