Illinois Union Coalition Blocks Bills Attacking Public Service Workers

June 02, 2011

This update from Illinois comes from Anders Lindall, AFSCME Council 31 public affairs director.

A vast grassroots outpouring by the We Are One Illinois coalition — which AFSCME helped to form — turned back a bill to require state employees to pay huge increases in their pension contributions. In recent weeks hundreds of thousands of Illinois citizens spoke out in an unprecedented way, deluging legislators with calls and emails in defense of the modest pensions earned by public employees. This week their voices were heard and the pension assault turned back.

The Illinois political tip sheet Capitol Fax said the phone-in campaign was “unprecedented” and quoted a legislator who said the pension onslaught “woke up a sleeping giant.”

Acknowledging defeat, state House leaders declared their intent to have further deliberations over the summer on how to address the state's unfunded pension system. The union coalition believes strongly that any funding solutions must be constitutional, must lead to the long-term stability of the retirement systems, and must go to the root of the problem: the failure of politicians over decades to make required contributions, even as public employees always faithfully paid their share.

As the Chicago Sun-Times reported:

“House Speaker Michael Madigan and House Minority Leader Tom Cross abruptly pulled the plug Monday on legislation forcing government workers to pay more for their pensions in a major win for the state’s public-employee unions. Madigan (D-Chicago) and Cross (R-Oswego) faced an almost unheard-of legislative setback, succumbing to a dizzying letter-writing and phone-calling campaign to rank-and-file lawmakers.”

Legislation under consideration in the House would have required many members of the state's main pension systems to pay nearly 17 percent of their salaries into the retirement funds. Those who didn't want to pay more could take a cut in benefits or move into a 401(k)-style retirement plan.

AFSCME also beat back a plan to impose unaffordable new health insurance premiums on retired state and university employees. Affected retirees would have been required to pay new premiums for their state health insurance, raising the typical retiree’s health costs by $4,000 a year.