CHICAGO (WBBM) - Mayor Daley, CTA and RTA officials, and labor leaders announced tentative agreement Wednesday on a five-year contract, but said it's no deal unless the General Assembly approves new funding sources.
WBBM’s Bob Roberts has the story.
Doing so could require lawmakers to override a veto from Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
"It shows he CTA and its employees are dong all they can to hold down costs, and to make sure that customers, taxpayers and sate legislators are getting their money's worth," Daley said, calling the agreement "important" and "historic."
The tentative agreement would cover 10,200 CTA employees represented by 17 unions, representing 88 percent of its employees. Daley said if CTA and union leadership could "set aside egos" to obtain the arbitration agreement, the General Assembly can do the same.
"Now it's time for the General Assembly to do its part," Daley said, also urging lawmakers not to neglect capital construction, repair and maintenance needs and money for new buses and trains -- which are not included in the agreement.
The governor's office quickly issued a statement in which he repeated his threat to veto any package that includes a sales tax increase, even regionally.
"I urge the Legislature to support my proposal to help CTA by closing corporate tax loopholes, so that working people don't have to pay higher fares or higher taxes," he said.
Lawmakers have declared the governor's proposals, most notably a computer software tax on business, dead on arrival.
The pension agreement was the missing ingredient in legislation pending before the Illinois House, and transforming it into the basis for the five-year tentative agreement pleasantly surprised Illinois House Mass Transit Committee Chair Julie Hamos (D-Evanston).
"Turning the pension reform piece of legislation into a five-year labor agreement, I thought was very interesting," Hamos said. "That wasn't even something we asked for."
The agreement would require the state to issue pension obligation bonds to meet a requirement written into state law a year ago to restore the depleted CTA pension plan beginning in 2009, with a goal of reaching 90 percent of full funding by 2059.
The existing pension fund is only 34 percent funded and running out of cash fast.
Employees would contribute more toward health care and pensions. While current employees with 25 years of service would continue to qualify at age 55, new employees would not be able to retire with full benefits until age 64.
The five-year contract calls for pay increases of 3 percent each of the next three years, and 3.5 percent in the final two years, but the increases this year and next would be eaten up by the added health care and pension costs.
CTA President Ron Huberman, RTA Chairman Jim Reilly, Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon and Amalgamated Transit Union Division 241 President Darrell Jefferson all echoed Daley's call on lawmakers to act.
Jefferson called it a "historical moment," and "a can't miss effort." Huberman said both sides in the talks came away with only some of what they wanted. Reilly said he believed the plan was one that lawmakers could approve.
No action is expected on the transit funding package, which will include the pension obligation bonds, for two weeks, when it goes before the Illinois House Mass Transit Committee.
Despite that, the committee's chair, State Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), said she believed it could pass both the House and Senate and be sent to the governor, in three weeks.
The CTA's board has not taken any vote on its contingency package, which would eliminate the Yellow Line, the Purple Line Express, 63 bus routes and 850 jobs, and indefinitely postpone mid-life overhauls designed to prevent bus and "L" train breakdowns. Huberman said he anticipated no fare hike if the new funding package is passed.
The RTA board also has postponed any action to approve contingency plans, despite a Sunday deadline to do so.
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