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THE TRUTH ABOUT CHICAGO PENSIONS

ANCHORS OF OUR COMMUNITIES

City employees and retirees live in, serve, and anchor neighborhoods throughout

Chicago. They make enormous contributions to our citys economy, vibrancy, and safety. They

constitute Chicagosworking and retired middle-class families.

ESSENTIAL PUBLIC SERVICES

Teachers, firefighters, nurses, and police and other city workers are the

cornerstones of the City of Chicago. Residents rely on them in every community to educate our

children, care for our most ill, and protect our lives and property day in, day out.

NO SOCIAL SECURITY

Unlike private-sector workers, City of Chicago employees and retirees do not

receive Social Security. Pensions are their life-savings-- their only sure

foundation for retirement security. Wall Street billionaires and big banks crashed the

economy and pension funds in causing the Great Recession, and now politicians want to

cut the pensions earned and paid by our citys workforce.

POLITICIANS AND WALL STREETS GREAT RECESSION CAUSED PENSION DEBT

For decades, politicians skipped and shorted their share of Chicagos pensionpayments, manufacturing todays pension debt.All that time, the citys public

employees faithfully paid their fair share 8.5%, 9%, or more, of every paycheck. Its wrong to

punish public servants for the actions of irresponsible politicians and the big Wall Street

bankers and CEOs who fueled the Great Recession.

REVENUE MUST BE PART OF THE SOLUTION

The fiscal problems Chicago faces cannot be solved solely by slashing modest

pensions. It will take a serious commitment of new revenue.

PENSIONS ARE MODEST

The average Chicago retiree pension is just over $40,000 a modest amountin

one of the nations more expensive cities. Some receive less. For instance, the average pension

in the municipal employees fund is around $32,000. Benefits for Chicagos police officers and

firefighters are less generous compared to other big cities.

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The modest life-savings of public employees and retirees stand in stark contrast to those of

some of the corporate CEOs at the Commercial Club of the City of Chicago who have pushed to

slash public servants pensions. The groups former chairman, Miles D. White, will draw on twopensions worth a combined $20 million when he retires, yet wants to deny the dignity of a

secure retirement to others.

401(K) PLANS ARE A BAD DEAL FOR EVERYONE BUT WALL STREET

Defined-benefit plans are more efficient than 401(k)s(defined-contribution) plans at

providing retirement security. Plus, city employees and retirees do not receive Social Security,

so any move to a 401(k) would put their entire retirement at the whim of the market. Only Wall

Street wins from the higher fees that 401(k)s command.

PROTECTED BY THE CONSTITUTION

Just like state pensions, the Illinois Constitution protects City of Chicago pensions. It

states membership in a retirement system is an enforceable contractual relationship, the

benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired. Illegally slashing workers life-savings

would force the city into an expensive and lengthy court battle serving only to kick the can

down the road.

WE STAND READY TO WORK TOGETHER

Thevoices of working and retired men and women should be at the tablewhen

decisions are being made about their retirement life-savings.We stand ready to work

constructivelytoward a solution that is fair, constitutional, and fixes the real problem a

lack of revenue and chronically underfunded pension payments.