I always worry when IEA leaders claim they are at the table.
I worry about being the first course.
Reports are that IEA and IFT leaders are involved in pension talks. And the reports aren’t reporting anything that would make a member happy.
The IEA leadership said that they would NEVER agree to anything that violated the Illinois Constitution (which protects pensions from any action that would diminish our benefits).
But now it seems that they simply will declare almost anything not a benefit and not covered by the constitutional clause.
Retirement age? Not a benefit.
COLA? Not a benefit.
Raising the teacher contribution? Not a benefit.
But as State Representative Cunningham told Jerry in the exchange below, the IFT and the IEA do not represent all TRS members and therefore cannot bargain for them.
There will be court action no matter what.
Jerry writes,
Just got off the phone with State Representative Bill Cunningham, 35th District. He was very candid with me in terms of what he knows about the current pension negotiations. He says he has been in touch with IFT and IEA lobbyists who are reporting “progress” at the table. He shared that he has heard some discussion of union understandings of:
1. Some type of consensus on retirement age
2. An increase in the contribution in the area of 3%
3. Some degree of modification to COLA
4. Future promise of by the State of full payment and sustainabilityHe said, “All of this is, of course, on questionable legal grounds in term of adhering to the Illinois Constitutional clause.”
I asked him if he believed that increasing employee contributions is questionable in terms of legality. He said, yes he thinks it is.
Ironic that I just spoke with IEA Vice-President Kathy Griffin yesterday on the phone and she told me the the IEA leadership does not believe that increasing contribution is against the Illinois Constitution.
Cunningham also added that he fully expects there to be a legal challenge to any agreement simply because the unions and the Coalition do not represent several other government employee groups in the State.
Fred Klonsky 
That is quite an about face for the teachers unions. Madigan has them scared and on the run. If the unions cave and agree that raising contributions and COLAs are negotiable and not protected, the court case gets a lot weaker. Who would have thought that the most militant and strong employee group would turn out to be the Judges Association?
Oh my god I can’t believe what I’m reading about my onion, er, I mean my union (stinks worse than an onion!), the unsinkable (yeah right), rather, fully permeable and pretty much sunk, IEA….
So now they declare that raising the teacher contribution to our pension is not a benefit!!!! Am I reading this right??? Or is there a hidden meaning in this ridiculous admonition? I mean come on – DUHHH!! Ya mean, after 2 years of us teachers being threatened and abused by the state, today, at the 12 hour, as we are about to have our heads handed to us by the state, (in a number of other ways also, not mentioned by the IEA) the IEA stands on its hind legs and issues a stern (oh brother) declaration of the blatantly obvious!!!! We teachers have been saying for 2 years that we cannot afford to contribute more to our pension… For God’s sake, we’re just working stiffs trying to get along… we are not rich…. And our union is just now declaring this as not-a-benefit??? Sad and laughable!
Who is running this union I ask?? Where is the fight in this union? Cinda Klickna, our union head, apparently works for the state, not us…. She and all of her union cronies should be REMOVED immediately and replaced by those who will defend us!!!. Where is the concern for teachers’ lives, teachers’ rights, and teachers’ futures??? Why are we paying dues to a union that agrees with the state at every juncture, and voluntarily cedes all of our rights/needs to the state?? This union does not work for us, this union works for the state..
At a previous, pro-pension meeting in Egin a week ago, disappontingly attended by just a handful of teachers and 2 or 3 union reps, – those union reps readily admitted that the union formed “great relationships” with Springfield, and “worked hard at forging those relationships”…. Hmmm, worked hard at forging relationships?? She meant worked hard at pleasing the state, giving in to the state, and yes, COLLUDING with the state in destroying our futures…. Whether intended or not, the result is that our union is helping destoy our lives, and our futures!!!
A brief word on the pro-pension meeting in Elgin…. this meeting was advertised in our local west suburban newspaper days before it was held, and yet, only 10 or 15 teachers attended! WE TEACHERS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF OURSELVES AND THE APATHY THAT PERMEATES OUR MEMBERSHIP AT A TIME WHEN WE STAND TO LOSE EVERYTHING!!!! FURTHER, THOSE WHO ARE “UNION REPS” AT EACH SCHOOL, SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY SCOLDED FOR NOT ATTENDING MEETINGS LIKE THIS, AND IN GENERAL, SHOULD BE ADMONISHED FOR NOT PROPERLY COMMUNICATING TO CYNDA CLIKNA OUR THOROUGH DISGUST WITH THE UNION’S PERFORMANCE.
Indeed, I have found that when teachers approach these in-school “union reps” to voice their concerns, they are almost always rudely shut down, ignored, or accused of being alarmists…. It seems that these union reps are either afraid of losing their jobs, or, they too have drunk the koolaid!!
Again, below are just a few assaults on us from the state, some or all of which will be done to us… in a mattter of weeks perhaps:
1. pay more into pension
2. eliminate pension in favor of a 401K.
3. capping the salary on which the pension is based (base it on your current salary rather than on our future, higher salary).
4. created a tier 2 pension system for the newbies who have no idea what’s in store for their retirement future. ALREADY DONE
5. raisng retirement age to 67
6. extending the school day without extra pay
7. effectivley eliminating tenure, couched in a new “teacher evaluation system”. ALREADY DONE.
We teachers need to wake the hell up, stop paying our dues, insist on throwing out the current union leadership, and start spreading the word – STRIKE!!!!
The state’s financial problem is an easy fix – A PROGRESSIVE INCOME TAX needs to be in place, as 43 other states impose on their wealthy populace… ILLINOIS NEEDS TO TAX THOSE WITH INCOMES OF 1/2 MILLION $$ OR MORE!!! ILLINOIS is the 4th or 5th richest state in the country with one of the largest economies in the country… THIS STATE HAS TO DO THE UNMENTIONABLE – TAX THE WEALTHY….. THE MONEY IS IN THIS STATE TO CURE THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM, BUT SPRINGFIELD HAS TO TAX THOSE WHO HAVE IT, AND THE UNION SHOULD BE TELLING THEM TO DO IT AND TO LEAVE US ALONE!!!!
For my money, I would elect Roger Sanders, Ralph Martieri, and Fred Klonsky to run the IEA. These guys are smart and know the ins and outs of solving the state’s problem while maintaining our union and saving us teachers from financial disaster!!!
Realistically we’re stuck with Cinda Klickna so, our only alternative is
STRIKE STRIKE AND LET’S FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!