Pension Cuts Blocked:
As a result of the most potent lobbying campaign ever waged at the Illinois Statehouse, AFSCME and our allies in the We Are One Illinois coalition succeeded in blocking legislation to cut public employee pensions that was backed by leaders of both political parties and our state’s biggest corporations.
SB 512 would have forced almost every public employee in the state of Illinois—including all Cook County employees and all City of Chicago employees, except police and fire–to pay a lot more for their pensions, take a reduced benefit, or exit the pension plan altogether.
But the hundreds of thousands of phone calls and emails generated by union members, as well as the union coalition’s potent TV and radio ad campaign, completely turned the tide.
The General Assembly adjourned its spring session without ever even voting on SB 512 because its backers knew they didn’t have the votes to pass it.
There is still much work to be done to put our pension systems on a sound footing, but this is a gigantic victory for every public employee in the state of Illinois that sends a powerful message about our determination to protect our retirement security.
PEOPLE Program Makes the Difference:
Unfortunately, this fight is far from over. The powers-that-be who want to cut our pensions have already announced their intent to try again in the legislature’s fall veto session. We’ve got to be armed for that fight—and the PEOPLE program is our big gun! That’s why it’s so important that every AFSCME member is a PEOPLE MVP member.
AFSCME’s PEOPLE program provides the resources to combine grassroots mobilization, lobbying and public education with the political might to make the difference under the Capitol Dome. If you want to make sure we continue to prevail in the battle to protect your retirement security, then sign up as a PEOPLE MVP member today!
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