Teachers Union suit goes after law cracking down on public pension abuse
October 09, 2012|By Noreen S.
Ahmed-Ullah | Tribune reporter
Fearing cuts
to the pension benefits of its “ordinary” members, the Chicago Teachers Union
filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court Tuesday that goes after a state law' class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" v:shapes="itxthook0icon">
passed in January
that was intended to crackdown on public pension abuses.
Two other
unions, IBEW Local 9 and Laborers’ Local 1001, are also plaintiffs the lawsuit class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon"
v:shapes="itxthook1icon">, which asks the court to find
that the law cannot be constitutionally applied members who were participants
in the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, the Laborers’ & Retirement Board
Employees’ Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago, or the Municipal Employees’
Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago before Jan. 5.
The
state law
was intended to end pension abuses that saw top union officials land hefty
retirement packages, double dip and substitute teach for one day but win
benefits for life. But CTU officials said in a press release that while aimed
at those “who were allowed by the legislature to game the system” the law could
wind up hurting “ordinary employees.”
“This
lawsuit seeks only to protect the pension benefits of ordinary employees earned
through their many years of public service and contributions to the funds,”
CTU President Karen Lewis said in a statement.
Also
on Tuesday, the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund
said it had won an appeal in its lawsuit that
accused the Chicago
Board of Education of failing to contribute a required $37.5 million in the
2010 fiscal year.
The
Illinois
Appellate court ruling from Sept. 28 reverses a lower court’s finding in favor
of the Board of Education.
nahmed@tribune.com
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-09/news/chi-teachers-union-suit-goes-after-law-cracking-down-on-public-pension-abuse-20121009_1_public-pension-top-union-officials-land-teachers-union-suit
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CPS, teachers end legal battles in new contract - Chicago
Tribune
At board
meeting, union asks for district's plan to close schools
September 25, 2012|By Noreen S.
Ahmed-Ullah, Chicago
Tribune reporter
CPS board President David Vitale listens Tuesday as school
principals tell the board about their achievements. (Heather Charles, Chicago Tribune)
A tentative
contract between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools brings
with it closure on lawsuits and labor grievances filed by both sides before and
during the seven-day strike, according to a copy of the agreement posted online
by the union.
With
teachers ending their walkout last week, the union agreed to give up its fight
over the 4 percent raise that was eliminated by the district last year because
of financial problems. The union also said it would end a protracted legal
battle over the layoffs of 1,300 teachers in 2010.
The latter
case was before a federal judge after many twists and turns. The 7th Circuit
Court of Appeals had sided with the union; then the Illinois Supreme Court backed the district's
position that the laid-off teachers did not have a right to be rehired when
jobs opened up. The union has now agreed to drop the lawsuit after reaching a
pact that allows eligible laid-off teachers, including those dismissed in 2010,
to be put into a hiring pool. Fifty percent of new positions must go to
laid-off teachers.
Contract
language, which apparently was still being hammered out as late as Monday, also
details the order of layoffs. With a new evaluation system not rating teachers
until the end of the school year, most layoffs of tenured teachers will
continue to be based on seniority this year. Reformers have long fought for
those decisions to be based on teacher performance.
Other
matters, such as the union's Sept. 5 complaint about unfair labor practices and
the city's bid for an injunction ending the strike, were dropped after being
addressed by the agreement.
But even as
teachers are preparing to vote on the contract Tuesday, concerns persist over
the district possibly closing up to 120 underenrolled
and low-performing schools in coming years.
At a Board
of Education meeting Tuesday, teachers union recording
secretary Michael Brunson called for an end to "saber rattling" and
called on CPS to release its school closing plans.
"You
need to release that information to the CTU and the public so we can openly
debate the merits of this proposal," Brunson said.
Board
President David Vitale denied there was any such plan but reiterated the
district position as stated at the negotiating table. "We've said we know
there's excess capacity in the system, and over time we need to reduce
it," Vitale said.
Tuesday's
meeting was the first for the CPS board since the contract agreement was
reached. Board members will not vote on the contract until Oct. 24, and CPS has
yet to say how it will pay for the new teacher contract. The district must
modify its budget to take into account the new raises.
The contract
calls for base salary increases of 3 percent this year and 2 percent in each of
the following two years, as well as some lucrative raises for experience and
advanced education. While some teachers will earn raises worth about 25 percent
over three years, the average teacher, who has 14 years of experience and a
master's degree or higher, will get 7.5 to 9.6 percent gains over the length of
the contract.
The union
has touted its success in fighting off Mayor Rahm
Emanuel's attempts to institute merit pay and more stringent requirements in a
new teacher evaluation system, as well as securing a recall policy for
top-performing teachers.
Continued at ….. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-25/news/ct-met-cps-board-meeting-0926-20120926_1_cps-board-new-teacher-contract-chicago-teachers-union