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SPRINGFIELD ILLINOISAFSCME Blocks Efforts toWeaken Pension SystemAs the legislative leadership in the Illinois General Assemblyprepared to renew efforts to slash public pension benefits inearly January, thousands of active and retired public serviceworkers, including members of Council 31, swarmed into thestate Capitol for two days of protests.The union members and retirees delivered a strongmessage to Gov. Pat Quinn and other political leaders whowant to change the method for calculating the annual costof-livingadjustment (COLA) provision for pensions. Theproposed changes would drastically reduce the ability ofretirees to keep up with rising costs for food, utilities and otherbasic necessities.The We Are One Illinois coalition, of which Council 31 isa member, says it is “wrong to punish public employees forthe actions – or inaction – of irresponsible politicians” who,for decades,“ shorted or skipped the employer contributionsrequired by law, creating the nation’s largest pension debt.”AFSCME and the We Are One Illinois coalition offeredtheir own framework for a fair and constitutional solutionto the pension funding problem. It would provide anDemonstrators fill the state Capitol in Springfield to protest plansto undermine the retirement security of public service workers.ironclad guarantee that state government could not skip itspension payments in the future; close wasteful corporate taxloopholes worth $2 billion a year; and ask active employeesto contribute an additional 2 percent of their salary to helpclose the shortfall.“Our coalition has consistently indicated our willingnessto work constructively toward a solution to the pensionunderfunding problem,” said Council 31 Exec. Dir. HenryBayer, also an International vice president.COLUMBIA MARYLANDCouncil 3Holds FoundingConventionThe union’s newest council is MarylandCouncil 3, which held its foundingconvention this past winter in Columbia,Md. Council 3 represents 24,000 state anduniversity, and private sector employeesfrom more than a dozen departments andagencies and university campuses.More than 150 delegates attended.They ratified their first constitution andelected a slate of officers – including Pres.Patrick Moran (Local 770), and Sec.-Treas.Flo Jones (Local 112). Also elected wereseveral executive vice presidents: MoSaid (Local 539), Lisa Henson (Local 1427)and Ron Lohr (Local 898).Delegates also elected region boardmembers, unit board members andtrustees.Council 3 is the reconstitutedCouncil 982, which went into “organizingcommittee status” five years ago toreorganize and rebuild. At that time, thecouncil had fewer than 9,000 members.Today it has more than 24,000 members.AFSCME Maryland Council 3 officers,including Pres. Patrick Moran (center), aresworn-in during the council’s foundingconvention in Columbia, Md.The council is nearly three timeslarger than it was in 2007.And it already has severalhighlights, including winning fair share,a Correctional Officers Bill of Rights,stopping furloughs and pay cuts, andthe recent vote of 1,500 Maryland stateworkers to join the council.“To come out of the gate with thatsignificant organizing victoryshows that unions are very muchhere for workers and workers areresponding to that,” Moran said.AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders,Sec.-Treas. Laura Reyes andInternational Vice Pres. andExec. Dir. of Maryland Council67 Glenard S. Middleton, Sr.addressed the Convention,applauding Council 3’s victoriesand encouraging the delegates tokeep up the fight in Maryland.PHOTO TOP: CHUCK STOUT; KHALID NAJI ALLAH AFSCME.org 29