CTA aims to cut worker benefits

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0705210774may22,1,7439999.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed

CTA aims to cut worker benefits
Pensions, insurance would cost more

By Jon Hilkevitch
Tribune transportation reporter
Published May 22, 2007

CTA officials uncorked proposals Monday to save an estimated $32 million a year by requiring transit agency employees and retirees to pay more toward pensions and health insurance.

The reforms, contained in legislation that will be distributed to state lawmakers Tuesday in Springfield, rely on approval to issue more than $1.5 billion in bonds to help pay for pension and health-care funding shortfalls, Chicago Transit Authority officials told the Chicago Tribune's editorial board.

"Our current retirement and health-care benefits are too rich for what we can afford," CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown said.

The reforms, combined with bonding authority and state approval of $110 million in additional operating subsidies, would solve the transit agency's immediate problems, officials said. But the agency needs almost $6 billion in capital-improvement funds to bring the transit system up to a state of good repair, they said.

The CTA pension plan would create a defined contribution plan for new CTA employees. Existing CTA employees would keep their traditional defined benefits plan, but they would be required to double their contributions.

Defined contribution plans guarantee a set level of contribution, and the latter guarantees a level of payments for life.

FULL story at link.

[Robson]

1. The sad fact is......

Public pension plans (local, state and fed) including elected officials and judges are going to sink this country unless they provide some parity with the private sector. There are huge unfunded obligations. Transit workers get very good wages and gold plated benefits. I'm all for worker's benefits, but it's apparent that government workers have substantially improved benefits while the private sector faces continued erosion.

Secondly I'm somewhat disgusted that the Democratic Party is no longer the party that unambiguously supports American workers. The Party apparently has some serious conflicts of interests between supporting American workers and multi-national corp profits and desire for cheap labor and the government of Mexico, based upon its liberal illegal immigration stance.