As we brace for the final week of the 2011 fall veto session, the pension crystal ball is still cloudy.

The AFFI’s legislative committee members have continued to meet with other labor leaders to fight passage of Senate Bill 512, which would create a tiered pension system for certain current public employees.  Although the legislation does not specifically affect firefighters, it would clearly be a prelude to efforts to gut our pensions as we now know them.

SB 512 would end the pension system for current state employees and teachers and replace it with a three-tiered system that would not only add considerable economic burdens to workers, but would ultimately threaten the stability of current pension systems.

Ironically, the chief sponsor of the legislation, House Minority Tom Cross, is simultaneously leading the charge to create a new, huge tax loophole for one of the state’s largest corporate entities, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.  Meanwhile, Representative Cross has proclaimed he has the votes of 30 members of his caucus to gut the public pension systems.

Throughout 2011, the We Are One coalition of public employees, including the AFFI, has stood firm against efforts by certain politicians to break their promises on pension and benefit funding.  Last week nearly 300 of our members joined thousands of public employees to rally support against passage of SB 512.  A video of that rally is posted below.

Your participation in the We Are One effort has exceeded all expectations.  Our membership is a critical component to our success thus far but we can’t take our foot off the accelerator.

Call or email your local legislators and tell them that firefighters have kept their promise to our local communities, the same as our brothers and sisters who work as police officers, teachers, nurses and state services employees.  We will not stand by and watch those promises broken by corporate fat cats who are pushing hard to obliterate public worker benefits.

We will continue to keep you informed of developments in Springfield.   As always, we thank you for your involvement in the process.  We are only as effective as our collective effort.

Click link to go directly to the WeAreOneIllinois.org website! http://www.weareoneillinois.org/