Unions ask court to protect retirement security for City of Chicago workers, retirees

At a hearing underway this week in Cook County Circuit Court, a coalition of four unions representing City of Chicago employees and retirees is seeking to stop implementation of legislation to sharply reduce pension benefits for city workers and retirees who participate in the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund.

Lawyers for AFSCME, the Chicago Teachers Union, the Illinois Nurses Association and Teamsters Local 700 are seeking an injunction against the pension-cutting law (Public Act 98-0641, passed as SB 1922), which went into effect at the start of the year.

If the judge decides to grant the unions’ request for an injunction, contribution levels and benefits would revert to previous levels. If the judge does not grant an injunction, the law would remain in effect unless it was eventually struck down.

The unions’ legal challenge contends that the City pension bill, like SB 1, which cut pensions for state employees, state university employees and downstate teachers, is unconstitutional. SB 1 was struck down by a circuit court judge and the Supreme Court is expected to make a final ruling later this year.

The suit against pension cuts for City workers and retirees was brought last month by individual plaintiffs who work in or are retired from city libraries, schools, and the health, aviation, transportation and streets and sanitation departments, along with their unions.

Active and retired city employees earned their promised pension in retirement and always paid their share into the pension fund, the lawsuit noted. Meanwhile, politicians who failed to make adequate payments now seek to force workers and retirees to bear the burden of pension-cutting legislation that violates the Illinois Constitution.

The constitutional pension protection clause is “an ethical and moral promise to provide a certain level of retirement security for the women and men who chose public service,” the suit stated. “For many of these individuals, their pensions comprise their life savings and are all that stands between them and poverty.”

A ruling on the request for an injunction is expected in the coming days. The court will then proceed to hear arguments from both the City and the union coalition on the merits of the case. That process could take many months. Please visit the Council 31 website for further updates.