Public sector workers gathered at State Senator Bill Brady’s office Monday afternoon to show their displeasure at a bill that would gut their pensions and raise the retirement age for employees under 45. Risking the support of thousands of active and retired state employees, Senator Brady announced in the press that he would vote for the measure, a vote that could come tomorrow.
In a highly undemocratic move, legislative leaders decided to use the Thanksgiving holiday, when most of the public spends time with family, to ram through the unconstitutional measure. The bill summary was released on Friday, and the bill itself on Monday, giving legislators a mere one day to read and analyze the bill.
Union leaders in the We Are One coalition, a collaboration between public sector unions, say that the proposed bill is even worse than SB 1. The bill proposes to cut Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA’s), impose COLA holidays for up to 5 years, and raise the retirement age to 67 for workers under 45, among other measures. It also encourages workers to dispense with their pension altogether in favor of more volatile 401(k)’s, which would further undermine the state pension systems.
[Take Action! Call your state senator and state representative at 888-412-6570 on Monday, December 2, and Tuesday, December 3 and tell them to oppose this plan and any plan not supported by the unions of We Are One Illinois!]
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