On Thursday, August 6th, the Oregon Supreme Court released their ruling on the lawsuit challenging SB 1049, the legislation passed that diverts a percentage of money that goes into members’ IAP accounts.
This unanimous decision, while disappointing, is narrow in scope, and affirms the previous ruling that the legislature cannot make changes to benefits you have already earned. It also clarifies that the legislature can make changes to benefits not yet earned.
As a reminder, the court has repeatedly found that current workers can’t be forced to pay for the costs associated with retirees’ benefits, which is considered a state debt. In 2019, the legislature attempted to thread this needle by attacking our members’ IAP to pay down the debt and reduce employer rates, our lawsuit challenged these changes.
You may recall last year, thousands of Oregon AFSCME members and their families successfully fought tooth and nail to push back against more egregious cuts to the PERS system.
Members took further action when your Oregon AFSCME Board voted to withhold interviews, endorsements, and donations for any legislator that voted for cuts to your PERS benefits.
As elected officials face the economic impact of the COVID pandemic, we need to ensure that they are not looking at PERS as a solution. Moving forward, it is imperative that we elect pro-worker legislators who will fight for workers, and not recognize us as heroes while cutting our retirement.
We must and we will keep up the pressure. Thank you for all you do to keep our union strong!
In Solidarity,
Stacy Chamberlain
Executive Director, Oregon AFSCME
