Public workers in Illinois say that they will pay more into their pensions if the state agrees to fully fund them. The unions are critical of plans to overhaul the pension system that lawmakers have proposed. The workers say that they are willing to do their part, but only if the state stops under funding the pension system as they have for many years. Unions have rejected plans that would cut the pensions of retirees, as well as the legality of such ideas. Illinois faces more than $95 billion in pension deficit.
See "Unions propose paying more to fix pension crisis", Sophia Tareen, San Francisco Chronicle, December 18, 2012