Brandon Johnson “a very encouraging start”. Not for us!

An important interview was published on June 16 at the Chicago Sun-Times. Veteran journalist Fran Spielman spoke with Jack Lavin, the President of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce is a key ruling class institution, and Lavin spoke frankly and directly. The topic of the interview was a business assessment of the first month of new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration.

“Reforms before revenue”

The central theme of the interview was made clear in the block capital headline: “Business leader says Johnson off to ‘very encouraging start.’” Lavin’s fundamental starting point was unambiguous. He said, “We know that government, education, public safety, critical city services are not free. We know we have a pension liability of $37 billion. All of these things … require solutions. [But] we’re looking for reforms before revenue.” This means “we” want to see cuts in social services (reforms) instead of taxes on the wealthy (revenue). This is the measuring stick by which Lavin evaluates the Johnson administration.

Lavin had endorsed Johnson’s mayoral opponent Paul Vallas for the usual right-wing reasons, such as worries about increased taxes and defunding the police. But since the inauguration, he’s been having second thoughts. Spielman reported, “Now that Johnson has been in office for more than a month, Lavin is singing a different tune. He said he’s genuinely encouraged that the new mayor is reaching out and getting to know the business leaders whose support he needs to create year-round jobs for young people.”

She added, “Same goes for Johnson’s willingness to collaborate, be flexible and seek business input before reinstating an employee head tax Lavin has condemned as a ‘job killer.’”

Giving younger workers smaller pensions

Lavin, in particular, praised Johnson’s approach on the question of pension tiers. This is a crucial issue for working-class people. Under a tier system workers hired after certain dates receive smaller pensions than those hired before those dates. It’s a common way of cutting employer pension expenses while hoping to avoid resistance and fightback by current workers. The tier system lowers workers’ living standards and creates hostility among workers who do an identical job but receive different levels of compensation for it.

The Chamber of Commerce President said, “He stopped two pension bills that were gonna start tearing down tier 2 on the pension, which has helped bring fiscal stability to our pension system in Illinois and all of the municipalities around the state. He said, ‘Hold up. We need to take a comprehensive look at these pension bills that would have been a sweetener for the firefighters’ pension… We’re glad, from a fiscal stability standpoint… that he said, ‘Let’s take a step back’…”

Lavin concluded the interview by discussing a number of other issues that he wished to secure Johnson’s collaboration on: property taxes, CPS spending, CTA costs, and downtown revitalization.

Johnson and the left

There’s a reason why this article has focused on the Lavin interview. The overwhelming majority of the left in Chicago strongly supported Brandon Johnson in the recent election. Countless articles were written saying that there would be a better terrain of struggle, Johnson would stand with workers against employers, advance left-wing organization, etc. etc.

Those Marxists, such as those at this website, who opposed Johnson were derided as sectarians, out of touch, irrelevant, etc. We saw Johnson as a politician who was clearly part of the Democratic Party, an indispensable and integral component of the US ruling class. Marxists oppose each and every Democratic Party candidate and counterpose working-class independence, struggle, and organization.

Now that the election’s over, evidence is beginning to come in to judge the validity of the different perspectives. The Lavin interview is an important statement by a major ruling class player. It shows that those socialists who stressed the fundamental compatibility of Johnson with the Democratic Party and ruling class politics were on the right track.