Illinois governor vetoes
$215 million in pension funding for Chicago teachers
By Alexander Fangmann
6 December 2016
6 December 2016
On Thursday, December 1, Illinois Republican
Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill that would have provided Chicago Public
Schools (CPS) with $215 million toward its roughly $700 million required
contribution to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund. Because the CPS budget for
the current fiscal year, approved August 24, assumed the state would disburse
those funds, Rauner’s veto creates a large deficit in the current CPS budget,
bringing the likelihood of mass layoffs and other attacks on teachers and
public education during the current year in order to cut costs.
While the Illinois Senate voted to override
Rauner’s veto, the House adjourned for the year without even taking a vote. A
spokesman for Speaker Michael Madigan, the Democratic House leader, said that
they “would not be able to override,” despite formally holding a one-seat
supermajority.
The truth is that the Democratic Party,
including leading figures such as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Madigan and
Senate President John Cullerton, as well as its junior partner, the Chicago
Teachers Union (CTU), were fully aware that the $215 million in funding was
illusory and likely to be vetoed by Rauner. But the promise of funding was used
to block a strike and extract key concessions from teachers in order to continue
the assault on public education and public sector workers that was begun before
Rauner was even elected.
The CTU and the pseudo-left organizations, such
as the International Socialist Organization (ISO), whose leading member, Jesse
Sharkey, is CTU vice president, knowingly maintained the ruse long enough to
sell a concessions contract to Chicago teachers and to drive support for the
Democrats in the recent election. While CTU president Karen Lewis now claims
Rauner “was never going to give us any money,” the CTU did nothing to mobilize
teachers and wider layers of workers to defend either funding for public
education or for public teacher pensions, which are woefully underfunded.
Indeed, one of the central issues that emerged
in last-minute negotiations between CPS and the CTU was over a matter of $200
million, which CTU president Karen Lewis claimed would provide, “everything we
need to fund schools so that they work well.” This helped CTU sell the
concessions contract, which introduces a two-tier pension system, flatlines
wages, and eliminates protections against “economic” layoffs, such as budget
deficits.
The $200 million, which would supposedly have
provided funding for more counselors, teacher assistants, and other support
staff direly needed by schools, was left to CPS, which claimed it would use
“surplus” revenue from Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts, as well as
savings booked from not having to pay $215 million in pensions out of its own
revenues.
The CTU’s bogus claims about the funding served
to bolster illusions in the Democratic Party just prior to the November
elections. It echoed the lies, promoted by the American Federation of Teachers
and other unions that this party of austerity and war was actually working
toward stabilization of school and pension fund finances.
The $215 million in CPS funding was part of a
stopgap budget deal approved by Rauner and the Democratic Party-controlled
legislature at the end of June in order to keep state government running into
the new fiscal year, which began July 1. The stopgap budget provided minimal
funding for state government, social services and higher education through the
end of 2016 as well as funding for public schools for a full year.
At the time the measure was passed, it was
widely reported that the $215 million was contingent on a comprehensive plan to
cut pensions statewide, and Rauner justified his veto by explaining he
supported the bill “only on condition that Democrats re-engage in serious, good
faith negotiations.” Rauner said, “Despite my repeated requests for daily
negotiations and hope to reach a comprehensive agreement by next week, we are
no closer to ending the (budget) impasse or enacting pension reform.”
Democratic Senate President John Cullerton, for
his part, denied that the CPS funding measure required passage of any specific
pension reform bill and said, “If he wants to tie it to something else like
pension reform, that’s something I am supportive of. We haven’t talked about
putting the two things together at this point in time.”
As a matter of fact, Rauner and Cullerton, as
well as Madigan and Emanuel, are all in fundamental agreement on the matter of
cutting the pensions of teachers and other public sector workers. In 2013,
before Rauner was governor, Cullerton and Madigan passed a bill to cut state
worker pensions that was signed by the then-governor, Democrat Pat Quinn—a bill
that was ultimately ruled unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Emanuel’s own plan to cut city worker pensions was also struck down by the courts
on the same grounds.
Moreover, the Democrats, who prior to Rauner’s
election dominated state government for over a decade, have repeatedly cut
education funding at all levels, slashed health care spending, particularly for
those with mental health issues and developmental disabilities, and pushed
ahead with the continued privatization and cutting of social services. In
Chicago, the Emanuel administration has laid off thousands of teachers already
through budget cuts and school closures.
Although Emanuel and other leading Democrats
were aware the Rauner would likely veto the funding measure, Rauner’s veto
itself is part of an overall strategy to force Democrats to enact provisions of
his so-called “Turnaround Agenda,” a package of anti-worker provisions including
cuts to workers’ compensation, restrictions on collective bargaining,
limitations on lawsuits against corporations, privatization of state government
and public schools, pension cuts, and term limits for legislators. Illinois has
operated without a full state budget since July 2015 due to Rauner’s insistence
that any budget deal must also enact parts of his agenda.
Outside of the provision on term limits,
practically none of the components of Rauner’s agenda are items that Democrats
have not already passed in some form or another. But the Democrats are worried
that some of the provisions in particular, such as an end to prevailing wage
requirements and the placement of limitations on collective bargaining topics,
would serve to drastically weaken the unions to the point that they could no
longer carry out crucial roles upon which the ruling class relies—smothering
worker anger and militancy and forcing through concessions.
Housing crisis and neglect at root of fatal Oakland fire, one of the deadliest in US history
By David Brown
Housing crisis and neglect at root of fatal Oakland fire, one of the deadliest in US history
By David Brown
6 December 2016
As the death toll mounts, the horrific fire that broke out at a dance party in East Oakland, California Friday night is now one of the worst such disasters in the recent history of the United States.
The City of Oakland announced early Monday that the number of bodies recovered from the 86-year-old Fruitvale warehouse called the Ghost Ship had risen to 36. The warehouse was being rented out to artists, and the studios were also used as informal housing by about 20 people.
According to survivors and neighbors, the fire spread quickly through ad hoc wooden rooms, cutting off any escape from the dilapidated building that lacked basic fire safety measures. Many were almost immediately trapped on the second floor, where a concert was being held, without any means of escape.
Recovery efforts were delayed Monday when one of the building’s walls threatened to collapse on firefighters. About 75 percent of the structure has been searched, but the Alameda County Sheriff told the Associated Press that he did not expect to find any more bodies.
Thirty-three of the victims have so far been identified. Many were in their 20s and 30s, but the youngest so far was 17. Three foreign nationals were identified, from Finland, South Korea and Guatemala.
According to one tally by “NBC News,” the Ghost Ship fire is the seventh-deadliest building fire in the past 50 years, a list that includes the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. It is the deadliest building fire in the US since a night club in Rhode Island burned down in 2003, killing 100 people.
While the precise causes remain to be
determined, indications are that the tragedy
was facilitated by city officials who ignored
unsafe conditions, a landlord who neglected
basic safety measures and a housing crisis
driving people to seek cheap rent in unsafe
conditions.
determined, indications are that the tragedy
was facilitated by city officials who ignored
unsafe conditions, a landlord who neglected
basic safety measures and a housing crisis
driving people to seek cheap rent in unsafe
conditions.
There was no shortage of dangerous flash points in the structure. Shelley Mack, a former tenant who lived in the warehouse for five months, told reporters that the building had no sprinklers or fire alarms and that it regularly went without utilities. Tenants used gas generators or propane stoves to heat their water, and stayed warm in the winter with space heaters. Wires crisscrossed the uninspected wooden partitions that turned the first floor into a maze of studios.
A neighbor, Danielle Boudreaux, described to the Washington Post the precarious makeshift stairs to the second floor where shows were held to help pay rent: “It only took two people on it at a time. .. when you stepped on it, it wobbled, and there were ropes holding it up. If you had three people on that it was falling down.” Once the fire started, she said, “there was no way you were getting out of that building.”
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley spoke to reporters Monday afternoon, announcing that the fire was a “potential crime scene” and that her office would investigate whether there was any criminal liability. She said that it was too early to specify who might be implicated, but that charges could range from involuntary manslaughter to murder. Any serious investigation, however, would immediately turn to the city itself.
The unsafe conditions, as well as the warehouse’s role as an unlicensed apartment and music venue, was an open secret to the landlord and city officials. The Tumblr page for the Ghost Ship contains numerous advertisements for musical performances. Over the past two years, the city has received numerous complaints, including three this year, regarding construction without a permit and unsafe conditions.
Twice in 2014 and twice in 2016, building
inspectors were sent to the warehouse in
response to complaints. However, no action
was taken to improve the safety of the
building. The Oakland Police Department
records also show officers responding to
reports of a stolen phone at a 2014 New Year’s
Party where they “canvassed the area and
building.”
inspectors were sent to the warehouse in
response to complaints. However, no action
was taken to improve the safety of the
building. The Oakland Police Department
records also show officers responding to
reports of a stolen phone at a 2014 New Year’s
Party where they “canvassed the area and
building.”
In 2007, Alameda County placed a lien on the property, owned by Chor Ng since 1988, for “substandard, hazardous or injurious conditions.” According to public records, Ng has four other properties that have been cited for blight in Oakland.
The conditions found in the Ghost Ship warehouse are far from unique and are well known by the city. Noel Gallo, a city councilor from the Fruitvale district, told CBS, “The reality is, there are many facilities being occupied without permits.” He estimated that there are about 200 warehouses “that have no papers, no permit, no fire code, nothing.”
The negligence of landlords and city officials is complemented by the broader housing crisis that drives poor people to seek out informal housing for cheap rent.
“What this tragedy really brings home is displacement and other impacts of gentrification: the high cost of housing and the lack of affordable housing,” Anyka Barber, co-founder of the Oakland Creative Neighborhoods Coalition, told the Wall Street Journal.
Rents have skyrocketed across the Bay Area in
recent years. Oakland, which was once a haven for
people avoiding San Francisco’s rent, is now the
fourth most expensive city for renting in the United
States.
recent years. Oakland, which was once a haven for
people avoiding San Francisco’s rent, is now the
fourth most expensive city for renting in the United
States.
The median cost of an available rental in Oakland in September 2016 was $3,000 a month, according to Zillow. This is up 71 percent from January 2013, when it was just $1,757. Median income for renters in Oakland remains just $3,000 a month, making most apartments wildly unaffordable to perspective tenants.
The Bay Area is riven with social inequality.
While workers in San Francisco and Oakland
can barely afford rent, massive new luxury
apartments are under construction in the
Rockridge and SoMa districts. Across the Bay
from the Fruitvale district where the
warehouse burned down is the home of Larry
Ellison, who has a personal net worth
of $51.6 billion.
While workers in San Francisco and Oakland
can barely afford rent, massive new luxury
apartments are under construction in the
Rockridge and SoMa districts. Across the Bay
from the Fruitvale district where the
warehouse burned down is the home of Larry
Ellison, who has a personal net worth
of $51.6 billion.
The current spike in property prices is part of
a broader economic bubble driven by
financial speculation after the 2008 crash. In
2001, 41 percent of US renters spent 30
percent or more of their income on housing.
By 2014, this rose to 49 percent, with 26
percent of renters spending more than 50
percent of their income on housing.
a broader economic bubble driven by
financial speculation after the 2008 crash. In
2001, 41 percent of US renters spent 30
percent or more of their income on housing.
By 2014, this rose to 49 percent, with 26
percent of renters spending more than 50
percent of their income on housing.
A UBS report in 2015 drew a direct connection between the amount of cheap credit central banks, led by the US Federal Reserve and the Obama administration, were pouring into the financial market and increasing. The authors wrote, “Loose monetary policy has prevented a normalization of housing markets and encouraged local bubble risks to grow.”
The Oakland Ghost Ship fire is a horrific tragedy, but one with definite roots in the reality of American capitalism.
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