With the sun beating down and cars erupting at the “Honk If You Support Teachers” signs, more than 70 people circled the yard of State Sen. Dale Righter’s office to protest proposed pension reform.

Members of Eastern’s chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois and the Illinois Education Association along with other community members filled the front lawn of 88 Broadway Ave. in Mattoon on Wednesday.

David Beck, a field service director from the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said he helped organize to rally against any rash decisions the Illinois General Assembly may make regarding pension reform.

Beck said they gathered about 90 signatures petitioning Righter to vote against any rash pension-reform legislation.

Righter was not in his office in Mattoon because he was in Springfield during legislative session.

About 20 different pension protests occurred Wednesday in front of the offices of state senators across the state, he said.

Karen Whisler, a librarian at Booth Library and a member of UPI, said she has worked at various state universities for the past 35 years and has faithfully paid into her pension fund.

“I entered into a contract with the state to be protected when I retire, and they plan to renege on that contract by stripping away our pensions,” Whisler said. “By cutting our pensions, they are not solving the problem of our structural funding deficit, and they need to step up to the plate and keep their promises.”

On April 20, Gov. Pat Quinn proposed a pension reform plan to increase the retirement age to 67, increase the employee contribution by 3 percent and reduce the cost of living adjustment to 3 percent or one-half of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.

His plan also calls for shifting normal costs to employers including school districts, public universities and community colleges.

Angela Warman, the president of the Charleston Educational Support Personnel Association and a senior special education major at Eastern, said they wanted to send a clear message to Righter that they know that public pensions need to be funded, but it is unacceptable for any decisions to be made without all parties being involved.

Warman said she has also been a member of the Illinois Education association for 10 years.

“We are doing what teachers do. We are educating the public,” she said. “We are not being greedy. We are simply asking for what is rightfully ours that we agreed to.”

Sheila Simons, a professor of health studies and a member of UPI, said she has worked at Eastern for 20 years and is concerned that the Illinois General Assembly might try to pass pension reform legislation in the next 36 hours without consulting those who would be hurt by it.

“We have prided ourselves at keeping and recruiting teachers, but now we are telling them not to come to our state because the state cannot provide for their retirement or keep their promises,” she said.

Paula Herron, who has taught second grade at Carl Sandburg Elementary School and been a member of the Illinois Education Association for 20 years, said she cannot receive Social Security and her pension is the only retirement she has.

“I need to work as long as I can and we just want to be treated fairly so this is heartbreaking,” Herron said. “This burden should not be on our backs alone, and by alienating a large portion of the state, Illinois will become an embarrassment to the rest of the nation.”

During the protest, Herron firmly held her sign that read “Pension ‘Reform’= Theft.” Other signs included “Keep Your Promises,” “Don’t Fast-Track the Attack,” “Don’t Occupy My Pension Plan,” and “Our Pensions Are Our Social Security.”

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu.