Call now: Oppose cuts to Chicago employee, retiree pensions

ACTION ALERT! A new bill--Senate Bill 1922, House Amendment 6--would drastically cut pensions earned by City of Chicago employees and retirees. Call your legislators NOW on the toll-free AFSCME hotline, 888-912-5959. Tell them you and your union OPPOSE SB 1922, HA6!

Although the Chicago media is blaring stories of a "pension deal" between Mayor Emanuel and city labor unions, AFSCME and our labor partners in the We Are One Chicago coalition stand opposed to this agreement. We believe that the terms of the "deal" being discussed would significantly undermine the retirement security of City of Chicago and Chicago Board of Education employees and retirees. Under this plan:

• The annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that protects against inflation would be reduced for all current employees and retirees. The COLA is now 3% compounded annually, meaning that it is figured on the basis of the previous year's pension amount received by a retiree. But under the new plan, the COLA would be reduced to the lesser of 3% or half the rate of inflation—and it would not be compounded, meaning it would be figured on the basis of the pension amount received by a retiree in their first year of retirement, even if that was 20 years earlier!
• The COLA would be frozen for three years. Retirees would receive no COLA at all to protect against inflationin the years 2017, 2019 and 2025.
• All current employees would lose the first COLA they are due after they retire.
• All employees would be required to pay an additional 2.5% of salary toward their pension. Employees in the municipal fund already pay 8.5%.
• The city would increase its contributions to the pension fund.

AFSCME analysts estimate that these changes would result in all current and future retirees losing between 20% and 30% of the value of their pensions over two decades of retirement—more than $200,000 in most cases. Many retirees would be pushed into near-poverty.

These changes would be especially devastating given the city’s recent decision to dramatically increase the cost of health care for retirees. While we do not yet know what help the Affordable Care Act may provide in mitigating those increases, currently it appears that retirees could face increases of as much as $1,000 a month in health care costs.

It is extremely unfortunate that some unions are going along with this plan, which in our view is in clear violation of the pension protection clause of the Illinois state constitution.

ACT NOW!

AFSCME and our allies in the We Are One Chicago coalition will be vigorously lobbying against this plan, but the involvement of every city employee, retiree, allies and friends is critical.

CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS!

Dial 888-912-5959 or Click-to-Call here

It's vitally important that you contact your state representative and state senator right away. Tell them that you—and your union!—do not support the proposed pension changes to the Municipal Pension Fund.

Our calls need to happen now. But they are just the latest step in the intensive efforts by AFSCME and the other unions in the We Are One Chicago coalition to prevent unfair and unconstitutional cuts to the pension benefits of City of Chicago employees and retirees. Just last month, more than 1,000 concerned union members and retirees took part in a spirited rally and lobby day at the State Capitol to reinforce that message.

WE WANT A FAIR SOLUTION

From the outset, our coalition has stressed that we are prepared to sit down with the Emanuel Administration to attempt to develop a fair, constitutional and responsible solution to the city’s pension underfunding crisis. No one has a bigger stake than city employees and retirees in ensuring that pension benefits are adequately funded. Currently the funding levels are simply not sufficient to ensure that benefits will be there for retirees in the future.

To that end, AFSCME has participated in a series of meetings with the Emanuel Administration regarding possible changes to the terms of the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund (MEABF) and the Laborers Annuity and Benefit Fund (LABF). The nearly 50,000 active and retired participants in the MEABF include virtually all members of AFSCME, as well as members of the SEIU, the CTU, the INA, the Teamsters and various building trades unions. Some work for the City of Chicago; others are non-instructional employees at the Chicago Board of Education.

Last week the Laborers, the SEIU and most of the construction trade unions agreed not to oppose the Administration's pension proposal. However, AFSCME, the Chicago Teachers Union and the Illinois Nurses Association do not believe the proposal is fair to employees and retirees and our unions did not agree to it. Subsequently, the We Are One Chicago coalition, which also includes the police and firefighters unions, took a stand against the city’s plan.

FLYER

You can print or download this flyer to spread the word to your co-workers, family and friends:

FACT SHEET

We Are One Chicago has prepared this fact sheet on the city's pension proposal and how it would affect Chicago employees and retirees. It will be updated as new information is available.