Retiree Council president: ‘You can’t just ride off into the sunset’

October 4, 2018 by

Ken McInnis

Ken McInnis has been going to union meetings since he was 5 years old. He helped organize a union when he was 15.

It’s no surprise, then, that his union activism has extended into retirement.

A former diesel mechanic and longtime member of Machinists Local Lodge 737, McInnis became president of the Minnesota State Retiree Council last month, when Bill Moore resigned after seven years in the position.

“My dad was a pulp and paper worker, and my mother used to send me with him to his union meetings when I was 5, 6 and 7 years old,” McInnis said. “When I was 15, I was working at a SuperValu store in Eau Claire, and we were lucky enough to organize a union.”

For McInnis, who now lives in Ham Lake, it was the start of a lifetime of support for the labor movement and progressive causes. In between jobs as a mechanic, he worked over 12 years as a business representative for Machinists District Lodge 77. He’s run for state and federal office, held several positions in the DFL Party and served alongside Paul Wellstone in Minnesota’s delegation to the Democratic National Committee.

His latest challenge? Providing direction for the Retiree Council, which provides Minnesota’s union retirees and their organizations with a voice in the state’s labor movement – and an opportunity to remain active in advocating for public policy and political representation that advances their interests.

UA: You took office at the start of a pivotal campaign season. Has it been a baptism by fire?

KM: It’s more work, obviously, in an election year, but it’s work I’m familiar with. I previously ran for state House and state Senate as a labor-endorsed DFLer here in Ham Lake. It’s a district that had about a 37 percent DFL index. I got 39 percent of the vote, so I figure I did alright.

So the election work is not a trial by fire. We’ve also got a lot of programs that we’re working with here, and we’re working to see that retirees have their say.

But for me, I’ve done this stuff for 40 years. It’s nothing new, just a different venue.

UA: What’s driven that interest in organizing and campaign work over four decades and counting?

KM: The old adage is, ‘The world is run by those that come to the meeting.’ I’ve always gone to the meetings.

Looking at the importance of the issues that are before us right now, those issues haven’t really changed a whole lot since I got involved back in 1973. We’re still fighting ‘right to work for less.’ We’re still fighting to make sure Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are going to be there for future retirees, like my three granddaughters. Those are the issues that drive me.

UA: You’re a self-starter when it comes to politics. How do you hope to inspire a similar interest among other retirees?

KM: I’ve always said if I’m lucky enough to engender an interest by one person per year, I’ll feel lucky. But it’s also about walking the walk. If I’m not going to do the work, other retirees are going to look at me and say, ‘He wants us to do it, but he won’t do it himself.’

UA: Where do you hope to see the Retiree Council go as an organization during your time in the president’s office?

KM: Right now we’re keyed in on making sure we win on Nov. 6. That’s the most important thing because if we don’t win, workers in general are going to lose their ability to better their lot.

Beyond that, my plan is to work on organizing the retiree networks out there. Not every union has a retiree chapter. Many have chapters that are more of a social club than an advocacy group. Hopefully we can engage some of them – and we have been – to participate in the council and in the Minnesota AFL-CIO.

It’s important for retirees to understand that you can’t just walk off into the sunset and think that everything’s going to be covered. Greedy people out there – including the party that controls Congress and the President himself – are trying to take everything away from us that they can, like pensions, Medicare, Social Security, our rights.

I’m issuing a call for retirees or organizations that have retirees to get active and put together a retiree organization if they don’t already have one. Join us; join our work. If everybody does a little bit, then a whole lot will get done.

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‘We are being distracted by a showman who throws these tweets out’

April 20, 2017 by

Robert Roach Jr.’s career as a labor leader began shortly after he went to work for Trans World Airlines in 1975, when he joined a fight to improve the conditions of new employees at the now-defunct airline. He hasn’t stopped fighting since.

After rising through the ranks of the International Association of Machinists, Roach retired as the union’s general secretary‐treasurer in July 2015. Now he’s president of the 3 million-member Alliance for Retired Americans, which works to mobilize retired union members, seniors and activists into a nationwide grassroots movement.

Roach will travel to St. Paul May 6 for a conference planned by local retirees fighting back against attacks on health care, pensions and the social safety net. Click here for registration information.

We reached out to Roach for a preview of what conference-goers can expect from his keynote speech, and to learn more about the issues retirees are organizing around nationally. His answers have been edited for length.

UA: You’re continuing your work as a labor leader in retirement. Isn’t that the opposite of how retirement is supposed to work?

RR: “In the Machinists union we have a rule – a good rule – that we retire at age 65 from executive office. It allows new people and new ideas to come up through the ranks. But it doesn’t mean that we’re off going fishing. I think those of us who’ve had the opportunity to serve and were able to retire should certainly stay involved.”

UA: You accepted an invitation to address a conference in St. Paul entitled “Family Security and Retiree Power in a Time of Crisis.” Do you agree we’re in a time of crisis?

RR: “Absolutely. I’m 66 years old, and this is as bad as I’ve seen it. The reforms they talk about – and ‘reform’ actually is code for taking something from somebody – are a vicious attack on senior citizens, which translates into an attack on the whole family structure. People now are either having to move in with mom or dad because they can’t get decent jobs, or they have to take mom or dad home because they’ve lost some of their benefits or don’t have the proper health care. People can’t move up.”

UA: How are retirees joining the resistance?

RR: “We want to talk about unity. As Secretary Clinton, a good friend of mine, said, we are stronger together. We must come together and align ourselves with like-minded people to ensure that we have strength.

“But I am very concerned. In all this talk about Russia, a lot of things are not being looked at. You turn on some of these cable-news channels, and it’s 24 hours of Russia, Russia, Russia – which is a very important issue. But what about Planned Parenthood? What about Medicaid? What about protection for senior citizens? What about protections for working men and women?

“When I was in elementary school, I used to have to get under my desk because the Russians were coming and they were going to drop a bomb on us or something. It was a drill. Let me tell you something, the Russians have been coming for 60 years.”

UA: How do we organize like-minded people when the opponent is as good at driving a wedge between us as this president has proven to be?

RR: “It all starts locally, with sitting down and talking with people, educating them and asking them, how is this affecting you? We have to take those issues that are important to working families and make people aware of what’s at stake. Because we are being distracted by a showman who throws these tweets out, and we spend hours and hours talking about a tweet. But it distracts us from the real issues.”

UA: Many of the issues ARA organizes around – trade, for example – go beyond what might be considered “senior issues.” What’s the connection?

RR: “All these things that affect working people, at the end of the day, affect seniors. We’re all a family. If there are no new people coming into a retirement program, that jeopardizes existing seniors. When employers subcontract work out or ship it to Mexico, it affects seniors who are already retired. And ultimately, if we fight for them, they will fight for us.”

UA: What would you say to young workers who might scoff at the notion they’re ever going to see Social Security or pension benefits?

RR: “That’s a myth. This is more of the propaganda they’ve put together to keep people from fighting for a defined-benefit pension plan. They’ll tell you a 401(k) is going to make you a millionaire. At one point in time, I sat where they sit. Now I’m fortunate enough to have had a pension I could retire from. And I was in the thick of the fights during the airline bankruptcy. There are people in Minnesota today at those airports, whether they realize it or not, who continue to enjoy a defined-benefit pension because we, as a union, fought for them. But if there is no fight, you will not have a benefit.”

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Retirees using education to debunk Social Security, Medicare myths

May 11, 2016 by
The Retiree Council's Tom Beer distributed information during a presentation on Social Security in Fridley, hosted by Congressman Keith Ellison's office.

The Retiree Council’s Tom Beer distributed information during a presentation on Social Security in Fridley, hosted by Congressman Keith Ellison’s office.

Looking to combat popular myths and widespread misinformation surrounding Social Security and Medicare, the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, is bringing a presentation on the federal safety-net programs to churches, union halls and civic centers across the state this election year.

Tom Beer, president of the retiree council in Minneapolis, said the presentations are designed to generate discussion about the value of Social Security and Medicare and to “give people a sense of optimism that these programs, which are so essential, can be improved and protected and maintained.”

Beer gave the presentation at a senior citizen forum Monday at the Fridley Community Center. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison’s office hosted the forum, although the congressman was too sick to attend.

The program debunked several myths: that the Social Security Trust fund is going broke, that Congress is using it as a checkbook and that privatizing Medicare would cut costs and improve service.

The facts, Beer said, are that Social Security is fully funded for the next 15 years, and turning Medicare into a voucher system would “only make it less available, more costly and less likely to solve our general health care and medical delivery problems.”

To extend the solvency of Social Security without cutting benefits, retirees advocate for “scrapping” the payroll-tax cap that shields income earned above a designated amount – currently $118,500 – from Social Security deductions.

“Then you’ve got a system that is not only fully funded into the foreseeable future, but you could improve benefits,” Beer said.

The Retiree Council’s presentation can run 15, 30 or 60 minutes, depending on audience preference. To arrange a presentation for your group, contact the council at 651-227-7647 or 1-800-652-9004.

Learn more about the retiree council, an umbrella organization of union retiree clubs and local unions with retirees, at www.mnaflcio.org/state-retiree-council.

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Dems get an earful from seniors, workers during Minneapolis meetings

September 2, 2015 by
15Now Minnesota supporters rally outside the Hilton in Minneapolis during the DNC's meetings.

15Now Minnesota supporters rally outside the Hilton in Minneapolis during DNC meetings.

 

As Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and other presidential hopefuls wooed party leaders in Minneapolis during the Democratic National Committee meetings last weekend, local worker and retiree groups mobilized inside and outside the event, looking to push their concerns to the forefront of the 2016 campaign.

On Friday, activists with 15Now Minnesota rallied for a $15 minimum wage outside the downtown Hilton, where contenders for the Democratic presidential were offering much-publicized speeches.

And on Saturday, union retirees and other Minnesota seniors elbowed their way onto the agenda of the DNC Seniors Coordinating Council’s meeting. They urged the party to put forth a bold vision for strengthening Social Security and Medicare, and ensuring economic security for all seniors.

Led by the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, seniors staged a program that featured testimonials, a sing-along with the Twin Cities Labor Chorus and an actor – Barry ZeVan – portraying former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ZeVan’s childhood hero.

FDR signed the Social Security Act 80 years ago, in part, to combat high rates of poverty among the nation’s seniors. Martha Johnson, a retired member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, urged party leaders to “be in the FDR tradition and take strong positions on senior issues.”

Retired AFSCME member Martha Johnson addresses the DNC's Senior Coordinating Committee.

Retired AFSCME member Martha Johnson addresses the DNC’s Senior Coordinating Committee.

‘Scrap the cap’

Johnson, a former president of the retiree council, drew a standing ovation when she called on lawmakers to “scrap” the payroll-tax cap that shields income earned above a designated amount – currently $118,500 – from Social Security deductions.

“That would fund full benefits to the middle of the century,” Johnson said, and would represent a “step toward long-term stability” for Social Security.

Other speakers warned against efforts to privatize Social Security or reduce benefits, including President Obama’s failed attempt to link annual inflationary increases to the so-called “chained CPI.” It’s estimated a third of U.S. seniors rely on Social Security as their only source of income, and weakening the program would threaten the economic security of millions of other retirees.

“People face very unattractive choices,” Johnson said. “They keep working into old age, or they retire into poverty.”

After the retirees’ program concluded, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison took the podium and pledged to keep fighting for Social Security, Medicare and income security for seniors. The Minneapolis DFLer urged retirees, in turn, to tune into debates surrounding proposed service cuts at the U.S. Postal Service and the sprawling Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The NAFTA-style trade agreement has the potential to impact prescription drug prices, Ellison warned, as pharmaceutical companies look to extend patents on pharmaceuticals and grow their profits.

“I’m just appalled – a life saving drug that you need to survive, and somebody wants to ratchet up the price on it?” Ellison said. “It’s not fair and it’s gouging people.”

Najma Ahmed speaks in favor of a $15 federal minimum wage.

Najma Ahmed speaks in favor of a $15 federal minimum wage.

Raise the wage

About 20 people joined the rally for a $15 federal minimum wage a day earlier. 15Now organizer Ty Moore said DNC officials reached out in advance of the demonstration, a sign that party leaders “understand that this issue, even with just this small crowd today, has a huge resonance in the wider community.”

15Now campaigns – alive in Minneapolis, St. Paul and at MSP International Airport – have won minimum-wage hikes in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities. And two Democratic presidential candidates, Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, already support $15 nationwide.

“We welcome that, but we want to push on,” campaign organizer Ginger Jentzen said. “We want every presidential candidate to speak to the issue of $15 an hour.”

Minnesota’s minimum wage recently increased from $8 to $9 per hour. But Najma Ahmed, who works two minimum-wage jobs and attends Minneapolis Community and Technical College, said she and her family of five “scrounge just to live.”

If given the opportunity, what would she tell the presidential candidates gathered inside the Hilton?

“I would tell them that it’s really hard as it is making $9 per hour,” Ahmed said. “I would tell them to support free education and to increase the minimum wage. We have a right to live and be paid decently.”

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Nurses plan BBQ Bash for Medicare

July 7, 2015 by

mna-logo3-300x300Wish Medicare a happy 50th birthday at a free barbecue and celebration hosted by the Minnesota Nurses Association from 5 to 9 p.m. July 30 at the Highland Park Shelter, 1200 Montreal Ave., St. Paul.

Nurses are marking Medicare’s birthday with calls for lawmakers to protect, improve and expand the popular program, which provides high-quality care to seniors and people with disabilities regardless of their financial well being.

In addition to the barbecue, the union also will host a free education session on Medicare for All at 6 p.m. July 29 at the union’s headquarters, 345 Randolph Ave., Suite 200, St. Paul.

Learn more about the events on the union’s website.

 

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Retirees, federal workers to Paulsen: ‘Shutdown has to stop’

October 16, 2013 by
AFGE members Vicky Sirovy, Gary Schabert (middle) and Jared Thyen ask U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen to end the federal government shutdown.

AFGE members Vicky Sirovy, Gary Schabert (middle) and Jared Thyen ask U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen to end the federal government shutdown.

Leaders in the U.S. Senate today unveiled a bipartisan agreement to end the partial government shutdown and extend the nation’s borrowing authority, but doubts remain as to whether the compromise will pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

As the spotlight shifted to the House, federal employees, union leaders and retirees paid a visit to Minnesota Rep. Erik Paulsen’s Eden Prairie offices this morning, urging the 3rd District Republican to stand behind public statements that he would vote for a “clean” bill to fully fund the government were it to reach the House floor.

Paulsen took heat for that very statement earlier this month, when Tea Party activists demanded he get on board with House Republicans’ plot to use the shutdown as leverage in an ill-fated attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act.

Now Tea Party Republicans are looking to exact steep cuts from Social Security and Medicare as ransom for extending the nation’s borrowing authority before tomorrow’s deadline. Retirees like Ilo Madden of St. Louis Park are hoping Paulsen won’t play along.

“Social Security and Medicare are my main sources of survival,” Madden said at a press availability following the meeting with Paulsen’s staff. “I wonder why the officials who we gave our faith and trust to in the form of a vote are doing this to us.”

[Click here to e-mail to Rep. Paulsen and ask him to support a clean bill to end the government shutdown.]

The delegation of about 15 people reflected the wide-ranging effects of the shutdown, now in its third week. Gary Schabert, a retired veteran from St. Paul, said he participated out of concern for his daughter, who is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in two weeks.

“This is for her, to make sure she has what she needs when she needs it,” Schabert said.

Other members of the delegation told Paulsen that the Tea Party’s political grandstanding in Washington was coming at the expense of federal employees and the citizens they serve, including veterans.

Jared Thyen, a Bloomington resident who works in the Minneapolis Veterans Hospital, said many of his colleagues at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System – the people who process claims and determine benefits – are working without pay.

“Morale at my office is extremely low,” said Thyen, 32, a chief steward of Local 1969 of the American Federation of Government Employees. “People are not able to pay their bills, like child (care). People my age and younger cannot pay their student loans. The bills keep coming.

“This shutdown has to stop.”

Federal employees are still reeling from three years of frozen pay and cuts to retirement benefits. Many workers have been furloughed up to six days per year as a result of sequestration cuts. According to AFGE, federal employees’ pay freezes and retirement cuts have contributed $105 billion in deficit reduction already.

“We have to put a stop to this,” Local 1969 President Vicky Sirovy said.

Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation Bill McCarthy urges Paulsen to support a "clean" bill to fund the federal government and end the 16-day shutdown.

Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation Bill McCarthy urges Paulsen to support a “clean” bill to fund the federal government and end the 16-day shutdown.

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Senator Al Franken: Keeping our promise to strengthen Medicare

June 27, 2013 by
U.S. Sen. Al Franken, shown here at a union rally in St. Paul, co-authored a letter to President Obama urging enforceable protections for workers' rights in the TPP.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, shown here at a union rally in St. Paul.

I know that to many people, the words “Medicare solvency,” which is the ability of Medicare to meet its obligations, sound like an invitation to a nice nap. But union workers pay into Medicare every month, and you deserve to know that the benefits you’ve paid for will be there when you need them. And not just that – I need to know that Medicare will be around to cover my daughter and my new grandson when they become eligible.

That’s what Medicare solvency is all about.

And a few weeks ago, we got some good news. According to the annual report released by the Medicare Board of Trustees, Medicare will stay solvent for two years longer than previously estimated – for a total of nine years longer than before the health reform law was passed. I’ll say that again: the life of Medicare is nine years longer today than it was before health reform.

So how exactly has the health reform law helped extend Medicare’s solvency? To start, it stopped Medicare from overpaying private insurers. Before we passed health reform, we were overpaying private insurers by 14 percent.

While we were at it, we expanded benefits for Medicare beneficiaries. The seniors I’ve met with in Minnesota are very happy about the new free preventive care they get – wellness checkups, colonoscopies, mammograms. They know, and we know, that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We’re also closing the prescription drug donut hole – the gap in Medicare coverage where seniors have to pay the full cost of their prescription drugs – so that many seniors won’t have to make the impossible choice between medicine, heat and food.

In addition, many provisions in the health reform law will make our health care system more efficient and cut costs over time. For example, I authored a provision called the Medical Loss Ratio – or 80-20 rule – that requires health insurers to spend at least 80 percent of the dollars they receive from premiums on actual health care and not marketing, administrative costs or CEO bonuses. And if insurance companies don’t meet their required percentage, then the health insurer has to rebate the difference.

This year, Americans are slated to receive some $500 million in rebates from insurers as a result of my provision – including more than 9,000 Minnesotans who will receive a total of $1.4 million. This is on top of the $9 million Minnesotans received in rebates from insurers last year.

But I’m not saying we’re done. We have more work left to do. For instance, I have a bill to allow Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers on the prices of their drugs, and I hope to work with my colleagues to bring it to the Senate floor soon.

Medicare works. It works for grandparents from Pipestone to Grand Marais and all across the country. So I will continue to do my part to protect Medicare today, while strengthening the program for future generations.

– Al Franken represents Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. His website is www.franken.senate.gov.

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Working America members target John Kline for blocking middle-class tax cuts

September 20, 2012 by

Working America member and 2nd District resident Mike Adair shows off the check mocking John Kline’s support for millionaire tax cuts.

BURNSVILLE – If millionaires don’t get a tax cut, then no one gets a tax cut.

That’s 2nd District Congressman John Kline’s stance, and it was the target of workers protesting outside Kline’s Burnsville offices Sept. 12 during a national day of action for tax fairness sponsored by Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate.

“John Kline voted against extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the 98 percent of Americans in the middle and working classes because those tax breaks for the richest 2 percent would have ended. He would not agree to that,” said Chase Brandau, a Minnesota organizer for Working America.

To drive the message home, Working America member Mike Adair, one of Kline’s constituents, delivered a three-foot-long check from Kline payable to “Millionaires.” The amount payable – $160,000 – represents the average annual tax cut people making over $1 million will receive if Kline’s efforts to extend the Bush tax cuts are successful, according to the National Economic Council.

“We’re here to deliver this check to Rep. Kline as a symbol of what he’s given (to millionaires) at the expense of working people in his district,” Brandau said.

Working America members from the 2nd District said tax fairness and a balanced budget are among their top concerns in this election year.

Ending the Bush tax cuts for the richest 2 percent would raise nearly $1 trillion in revenues over 10 years, helping to balance the federal budget. Extending the tax cuts for 25 million working Americans, meanwhile, would ensure consumers have the spending money necessary to keep the fragile economic recovery on track.

“Money at the top stays at the top,” said Adair, a small business owner and graduate student who lives in Eagan. “You can’t create jobs when money stagnates at the top.”

Elizabeth Huffman of Cottage Grove said she usually tunes out politics, but got involved in the Working America protest because she is fed up with politicians who attack the middle class.

“I’m tired of seeing the top 2 percent making all the rules. I would have loved to have heard John Kline’s justification for all of this,” Huffman said. “Enough is enough. Seeing what’s happening in this country, it’s ridiculous.”

Working America members said Kline’s refusal to take a balanced approach to budget and tax policy not only protects millionaires at the expense of working families, but it also puts funding for Medicare and education – programs that protect the middle class – at risk.

“Money is being wasted in contributing it to millionaires and being denied to people in the middle and lower income groups, where it would actually do the most good,” said Paul Hoffinger of Eagan. “It’s part of the reason we’re experiencing a recession.”

Workers staged similar protests in more than 30 cities across the U.S.

Working America has organized more than 3 million members, workers without the benefit of a union on the job, to fight for a just economy. For more information on the organization, go to www.workingamerica.org.

Working America members protest outside John Kline’s Burnsville offices.

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