(From the Chicago Tribune…The newspaper destined to eliminate ALL PUBLIC EMPLOYEE BENEFITS!)

Court backs Quinn in denying pay raises

A federal appeals court is backing Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn over pay raises his administration canceled for thousands of union workers.

A U.S. District Court dismissed an effort by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to force the administration to pay the raises. The Seventh U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld that ruling.

The appeals court ruled the 11th Amendment prevents the union from prevailing because ruling in AFSCME’s favor would force the state to spend money.

Quinn, last year, canceled raises for thousands of state worker because he said lawmakers didn’t give him enough money in the budget to do it. The move reportedly saved the state millions of dollars.

In a written statement, AFSCME said it will continue to fight for the pay raises.

The Offices on the 5th Floor at 118 North Clark Street are smiling today! If the governor is allowed to break contract language dur to ‘lack of funding’, who do you think will try it next? We have a raise scheduled for June 1st. Stay tuned…The court must not be versed in LABOR LAW!?!?

Management remains steadfast in their plans to keep normal shifts and routes for all field work teams during the NATO Summit here in Chicago. Field work for caseload officers also will go on as scheduled. Nothing is going to happen.*

Management stands by their beleif that all of the ‘problems’ will be in the downtown/Grant Park areas of the city. The first protest march occurred on Tuesday night. Where was it heading? Not to Mc Cormick Place, but to BRIDGEPORT!?!?! And today’s newsparers are reporting that the suburbs are on ‘Alert’ for NATO trouble? Events are planned throughout the city, and where they are so will be the masses. and the TV cameras.

Bus loads of protesters are rolling into Chicago for NATO and looking to create chaos, on our streets and including cyberspace. But get those 20 field visits done people! Just stay away from downtown and you’ll be ok. Huh?

There was a video on the news showing protesters how to disarm a police officer. Good thing only some of us carry guns in the field!

Yep, no problems in our areas. We’re all not working in downtown Chicago! That’s right, keep your heads buried in the sand, management! Maybe then it’ll all just go away…. And as NATO wraps up on Monday, May 21st, where will our leaders be? At the departmental conference in COUNTRYSIDE!!!!

PLEASE USE YOUR OWN DISCREATION OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS PEOPLE. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY!

(From the Chicago Tribune…)

Retired state employees could pay for health coverage

House lawmakers moved today to reduce the $800 million annual cost of insurance for retired state workers by making them pay more for health care that some now get for little or nothing.

The action unfolded as House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, implored colleagues to make the legislation part of a major effort to rein in billions of dollars in health-care for the poor, public employee pensions and the state’s budget overall.

“The prescription on the table is huge,” Madigan said. “This is one small part of it. …If we can’t do this, what in the world are we going to be able to do?”

Under the legislation, retired state workers, judges, lawmakers and university employees would have premiums for their group health insurance program set each year by the Quinn administration. The bill went to the Senate on a 74-43 vote.

Madigan said the decisions in the coming weeks to are “not for the faint of heart,” but must be tackled to improve the state’s financial health.

Cross sought to allay concerns by pointing to safeguards in a new letter from the administration that said the retiree contributions for health-care would be determined on a sliding scale and consider length of service and ability to pay. The percent of health-care costs the retiree would pay also would be based on his or her pension level, the letter said. Pension amounts would be broken into seven tiers. The higher the tier, the more the retiree will pay.

Opponents of the measure contended the proposal would break the promises made to rank-and-file workers who retired under the belief their health care would be covered. But supporters countered that the growing price tag is unaffordable given Quinn’s call to cut spending dramatically

This doesn’t affect us directly, as we pay into our health care coverage. This will affect us as the legislature does make an attempt to reign in public servant pensions by beginning to submit to public pressure to actually do something before the end of the Spring term. 

(From the Chicago Tribune…)

Emanuel, suburban mayors join forces on pension reform

A crowd of suburban and Downstate mayors sounded the alarm on their pension woes today, standing with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to warn their communities could face bankruptcy if state lawmakers don’t fix their police and fire department retirement funds.

Heads of several municipalities said they’re worried the state legislature will deal with the state’s $80 billion in unfunded pension liabilities but not address the hole in Chicago pensions or the perilous structural problems in the hundreds of smaller municipal systems around the state.

Gerald Bennett, mayor of Palos Hills and president of the Southwest Conference of Mayors, said lawmakers need to understand severe pension shortfalls aren’t particular to Illinois’ largest city.

“Mayor after mayor, if they had a big box outside the doors in Springfield, are ready to tell them: ‘We’re going to drop the keys to city hall in that box. You guys have run the show for so long, maybe you’d like to run the city and village,’” Bennett said at a news conference at which Emanuel was joined by about two dozen municipal leaders. “That’s the financial crisis we all face.”

It was the third straight day Emanuel pressed the pension issue, following his Tuesday trip to Springfield to address members of the General Assembly and a Wednesday letter to the city employees who would take a pension hit under the austerity measures he has proposed.

Emanuel said lawmakers need to look past the pressure they’re getting from organized labor and make the tough decisions required to bring the state’s pensions into balance.

“I do think — and any mayor can add their voice on this — acting as if this is not difficult, but that if you just do what we’re doing now and that this is going to resolve itself, that is the most dishonest thing, the most irresponsible thing to do,” Emanuel said.

Emanuel said he isn’t willing to consider new revenue sources like tax increases or leasing Midway airport to help fund pensions because the structural problems with the system are too severe.

He declined to discuss whether he would consider raising taxes if the General Assembly fixes those structural problems.

On Tuesday, Emanuel called for raising retirement ages for city workers and freezing cost-of-living increases for retired employees for 10 years.

He also proposed requiring city workers to pay more toward their retirement, while allowing “newer” workers the option to join a 401(k)-style retirement plan.

Union leaders weren’t happy with his proposal.

Surrounded by the mayors Thursday at City Hall, Emanuel said he remains open to union ideas on repairing the pension system.
But Emanuel said any pension reform package has to take into account the state’s other cities, where 638 separate police and fire pension systems are funded largely through local property taxes.

“Make sure that the local governments, also, their challenges are addressed, because if you don’t address them, we’re not fixing the problem,” Emanuel said.

Christopher Canning, president of the Village of Wilmette and head of the Northwest Municipal Conference, endorsed Emanuel’s outline for pension changes, and added lawmakers should look at consolidating the police and fire pensions in municipalities outside Chicago into a single retirement fund that could be more efficient and get better returns on investment.

Canning said residents in Wilmette quadrupled their contributions to police and fire pensions between 2000 and 2010, but saw the level of funding in the plan go down from over 94 percent to around 70 percent.

“That, my friends, is an unsustainable system,” Canning said. “You pay more in, and you get further and further behind.”

Watch for the Legislature to take action to implement pension changes, especially now that the ‘Grinch’ wants them! This has ‘bad news’ written all over it for us in the near future…

(From the Chicago Tribune…)

Emanuel to state lawmakers on pension costs: ‘Day of reckoning has arrived’

Mayor Rahm Emanuel took his case for reining in soaring pension costs to state lawmakers today, saying change is needed or Chicago’s “quality of life will suffer.”

Emanuel called for a pause on cost-of-living increases for 10 years to allow pension systems “to catch its breath.” He wants city employees to increase their contributions 1 percent each year for five years and to allow employees to be offered a choice of retirement plans.

“The day of reckoning has arrived,” Emanuel said, saying taxpayers, retirees and employees want politicians to be honest and “level with them” about the problems.

A rare step for a Chicago mayor, Emanuel personally pitched his ideas for cutting costs to a House pension panel. It’s an approach that his immediate predecessor, Richard M. Daley, had not taken, though he made a variety of appearances over the years.

Emanuel said the cost-of-living pause is necessary because retirees are getting increases while current employees are unable to get similar increases. For example, a retiree making a $60,000 pension in 1995 is now receiving $100,000. After 10 years of a pause, Emanuel said the plan would go to a simplified cost-of-living adjustment rather than annual compounded increases.

In addition, the mayor said the idea of increasing employee contributions helps rectify a system that hasn’t changed along with the longer life expectancies over the years. He also talked about a choice, or alternative, plan, potentially some type of proposal that would not undermine a defined contribution plan. Already, for example, many city employees have a 401(k) type of plan, Emanuel said. But officials said discussions are ongoing as to what shape choice should take.

The plans offer different ages for retirement, but the proposal would increase the retirement ages by five years in each plan. The thought is that it would be phased in over a decade.

Another piece of the plan is that the city would not want to increase its contributions until the system can be fixed.
Without reform, the city would have to pay $1.2 billion a year toward the four pensions for city workers alone, Emanuel said.

Today, the combined unfunded liabilities of Chicago’s four pension funds have grown to nearly $20 billion, which doesn’t include the $6.8 billion shortfall at the teachers fund.

Absent reforms, the fund for retired city firefighters would become insolvent in nine years, according to a city report issued two years ago. The police pension would go broke four years later. All four funds would be broke by 2030.

Under a state law, the city would have to increase its property taxes by up to $550 million to begin making the funds whole. The current tax levy is $798 million, with half of it dedicated to paying off debt and the other half to funding pensions.
Emanuel said changes need to be made or it will put in jeopardy prior school cuts and reforms, such as getting more children going to magnet schools. Without reforms, the size of an average class room would increase dramatically.

Where was the other half of the gruesome two-sum? Maybe she had a County Board meeting?

Now he’s throwing his weight around to raise the retirement age limit, add more contributions from employees and FREEZE the COLA for a decade after retirement? Why even retire then?

And once again, he’s negotiating through the press and not with his employees! Just like the other half….

Management has been passing out a form to gather personal information from each employee for contact purposes. They want your personal cell phone number and email address to be able to contact you with updates on NATO, etc.

Per AFSCME Council 31 Regional Director Nefertitti Smith, “Giving personal information such as cell phone numbers and email addresses is not a condition of employment. If the department is changing these conditions, they must first negotiate with the Union. The department is not entitled to this information. They already have your home phone number as condition of employment.”

You are not responsible for giving this additional information to the department.

(From the Chicago Tribune….The Newspaper who continues to make our lives miserable)

Illinois voters will decide pension question this fall

Illinois voters this fall will be asked whether to make it tougher for state and local governments to sweeten public employee pensions under a proposal lawmakers approved today.

The proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution goes directly to the November ballot following the Senate’s 51-2 vote. The House previously approved the measure, sponsored by Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, both Chicago Democrats.

The ballot question asks voters whether a three-fifths vote by state lawmakers, city councils and school districts should be required to increase government employee pension benefits.

The three-fifths threshold for approving pension boosters is a higher bar than the simple majority required at most levels of government, including pension boards that also would be covered under the plan.

The action comes as the state of Illinois faces a yawning gap in public pension funding and follows Tribune stories that have exposed how public officials and union members have padded pensions with lucrative sweeteners.

The measure also potentially serves as an attempt to channel voter anger over burgeoning costs of public pensions. (Or continue to fuel the rage is more likely the choice! Watch for the upcoming editorials encouraging a ‘Yes’ vote as the election draws closer!)

The proposal also would require a two-thirds vote for lawmakers to override a governor’s veto or accept a governor’s proposed changes in a rewrite of pension increase legislation. Currently, it takes a three-fifths vote to override an outright veto and only a simple majority to accept a governor’s changes.

Like this isn’t going to be a slam dunk!?!? After the vote, what will they do next? Besides try to raid the Cook County Plan?

A memo has surfaced from HR, directed to all employees in Offices Under the President regarding the upcoming NATO summit with instructions for day-off requests.

“As you are likely aware, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”) Summit will be hosted in the City of Chicago on May 20, 2012 and May 21, 2012. We anticipate a demand on our operational resources to support the issues that the Summit will present. The County must insure that it is adequately and appropriately staffed to handle any situation which may arise or impact services. Accordingly, time off requests will be limited during the period of May 17, 2012 – May 22, 2012.

We recognize that certain major life events and special occasions that are not in our control of our employees may and will arise for this time period (e.g. out-of-state graduations, weddings, etc.) As such, we will address individual hardships, should they arise, pursuant to the following process:

An employee must submit his or her request to use a Personal or Vacation Day(s), along with supporting documentation (e.g. travel itinerary, schedule of events, invitation, etc.), to his or her Department Head. The Department Head will review the request and make a decision to grant or deny the request in consideration of the operational needs of the respective department. Department Heads will maintain a record of all requests and decisions rendered. If a request is denied, the employee may appeal the decision by forwarding the request and supporting documentation to the Bureau Chief of Human Resources. All appeals will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and decisions granting or denying such appeals will be final. The process will be applicable to all requests, including requests that have previously been approved. If you have previously submitted a request, you must resubmit the request pursuant to this process. All requests must be submitted by May 7, 2012. Any requests made after May 7, 2012 may be denied.

Any employee who calls in sick during this period may be required to produce a doctor’s note to verify that the sick day was properly used.

Thank you for your cooperation.”

Maureen T. O’Donnell, Bureau Chief of Human Resources

This memo was sent via county email, so most of you have not seen or heard of this! At this time we are unsure if this applies to the Office of the Chief Judge’s Employees, or if this is a blanket statement pertaining to ALL county employees!

Have we all now been designated ‘Essential Employees’?

The County wants to make sure its manpower numbers are at maximum staffing for NATO in case of trouble, but yet OUR DEPARTMENT still does not recognize the potential for problems relating to field work to be conducted during these days and times!

This is a first! Cook County Employees are effectively under a ‘Lock Down’! And don’t even try to get out-of-the-county without a note from your mother! Are the Sheriff’s Police going to be stationed at the county boarder monitoring who comes and goes from Cook County on a daily basis? Or is that going to be the function of the Suburban Police Departments? ‘No Pass for You’! You’re a County Employee! EM Bracelets for Everyone!

Maybe Madame Prez will get permission to use the Mayor’s Red light/Speed & CPD surveillance cameras to monitor our movement! Can we go into DuPage, Will and other nearby counties too, or are we ‘restricted’ to Cook? And if we don’t have a ‘verified’ travel permit, can we get back into Cook County?

Does this mean that the first round for the department conference will be cancelled due to ‘operational needs’? Just asking….

(Think this is SLIGHTLY over exaggerated?????)

(From the Chicago Tribune…)

Aldermen getting generous pensions for their part-time jobs

Retired council members stand to reap millions, thanks to a quietly engineered pension boost in 1991

When Chicago aldermen floated a proposal in 1987 to boost their city pensions dramatically, Mayor Harold Washington‘s administration dismissed it as an arrogant ploy that lacked even a cursory cost analysis.

Three years later, the proposal still didn’t have a price tag. But records show that the new mayor,Richard M. Daley, helped push it through the state Legislature anyway.

Now a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation reveals how much those lucrative pensions could end up costing taxpayers.

An analysis of pension fund documents for 21 aldermen who retired under the plan shows they are in line to receive nearly $58 million during their expected lifetimes, though contributions and assumed investment returns are predicted to cover just $19 million, or a third of that sum.

The pension deal was inked more than two decades ago, but the costs began to kick in recently. Most of the 21 aldermen in the Tribune/WGN-TV analysis have retired within the past five years, and there are 53 more in the pipeline.

The inflated benefits for aldermen represent a small fraction of the municipal pension plan’s $6.7 billion in unfunded liabilities. But they are a dramatic illustration of the structural problems lying at the center of Chicago’s pension crisis.

The perk for aldermen also shows how the Daley administration leveraged city pension funds for political purposes rather than protecting the modest, sustainable retirement benefits promised to city workers.

Under the plan, aldermen and other elected city officials became eligible to receive up to 80 percent of the salary they earned during their last month of work. All other employees in the municipal pension plan — including top managers — receive 70 percent of their average monthly salary over the previous four years.

Aldermen can also reach the maximum benefit with just 20 years of service, compared with nearly 30 years for everyone else in the municipal pension plan.

Council members argue that they deserve to earn credit more quickly because they face re-election every four years. “Once you become (a city employee), you have to commit murder to lose your job. And an alderman can get tossed out in the next election,” said Ald. Richard Mell, 33rd, who has been on the council for nearly four decades.

Data from the pension fund show that aldermen in the Tribune/WGN-TV analysis retired with an average of 25 years of service, roughly the same as the average retiree in the municipal pension plan.

The average payout to those aldermen is $81,000 a year. But because they can retire at 55 and their pensions grow by 3 percent compounded annually for the rest of their lives, the average amount will eventually increase to $165,000 a year.

The result is that many aldermen will end up making more in retirement than they did when they served on the council.

“I believe it’s a bit too generous, yes, especially with the tough economic times for the city,” said Ald. Nicholas Sposato, 36th, who is eligible for a higher pension benefit in a shorter amount of time as an alderman than when he served as a Chicago firefighter.

The aldermanic pension plan gained attention early this year when federal authorities indicted former Ald. William Beavers, who is alleged to have failed to pay taxes on money taken from his campaign accounts to buy into the aldermanic plan. Beavers is now receiving a city pension of more than $91,000 a year and is also eligible to earn a county pension based on his $85,000 salary as a Cook County commissioner.

Like many sweetheart pension deals, the origin of the aldermanic pension perk is murky. It’s impossible to determine from public records who drafted it, for example. But new records unearthed by the Tribune andWGN-TVshow who blessed it: the Daley administration.

Without any public vetting, legislation creating the plan was slipped into a larger bill before it was signed into state law in January 1991. Last year, the Tribune and WGN-TV detailed how another provision added to that same legislation allowed many union officials to land six-figure city pensions. The investigation led to rewrites of the state’s pension code, forced one top union leader to resign and sparked a federal criminal investigation.

The pension revisions came as Daley was running for his first full term as mayor. He went on to dominate city government for five more terms with frequent support from organized labor and the acquiescence of the City Council. During his tenure, Daley appointed nearly three dozen aldermen, many of whom went on to earn full aldermanic pensions.

This is even more bad news folks, as public opinion will force the State Legislature to make drastic pension reforms, targeted to reign in the ‘sweetheart’ deals from the past, but will be laid directly at our feet.

Our guess is that the Trib/WGN will highlight the County Board  sometime this week, leading to more cries for so called ‘reform’. Pick up the phones and call Springfield! They’re the ONLY ones who can extinguish the flames that continue to get fanned by the Tribune & WGN TV. And Chief Judge Evans benefited from this deal too!

This is going to get very ugly friends. And Governor ‘Poplar Vote’ isn’t going to help us either…Stay tuned for more updates when they become available.

Breaking News!!!!!

Calls Needed Now to Stop Pension Cuts! Click here or dial 888-912-5959

• Accept a new pension regimen with drastically reduced employee benefits and increased employee costs, or
• Lose retiree health insurance and freeze the salary on which your pension will be based.