Retirees push lawmakers to stay vigilant for lame-duck attack on pension rights

December 5, 2016 by
Sen. Al Franken and U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan got an earful from retirees after a forum on threats to retirement security in St. Paul Dec. 5.

Sen. Al Franken and U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan got an earful from retirees after a forum on threats to retirement security in St. Paul Dec. 3.

 

Two years ago, Congress opened the door for troubled pension funds to cut retirees’ benefits, after Rep. John Kline slipped the provision into a must-pass bill keeping the federal government open.

Now, with Congress poised to pass a similar stopgap bill, Kline is back with another “pension reform” bill, and it’s just as bad as the 2014 measure – maybe even worse. But this time around, the element of surprise won’t be on Kline’s side.

A forum Saturday morning on Kline’s proposal drew a standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 retirees to the Macalester College chapel in St. Paul. It was the first in a series of public events to keep pension reform off the lame-duck agenda.

Retirees packed the chapel at Macalester College to learn more about potential legislation weakening defined-benefit pensions.

Retirees packed the chapel at Macalester College to learn more about potential legislation weakening defined-benefit pensions.

“We will be listened to,” retired truck driver Bob McNattin, a leader of Save Our Pensions-MN, told the assembled retirees. “They cannot treat us this way.”

[McNattin’s group will take its message directly to Kline this Saturday with a 10 a.m. demonstration outside the congressman’s Burnsville office, at 350 W. Burnsville Pkwy.]

While the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 dealt a blow to the rights of retirees in critically underfunded multiemployer plans, Kline’s latest proposal, known in Washington as the “composite bill,” has a much broader reach.

It would allow healthy pension plans to split in two, with a “legacy plan” following the defined-benefit model and a “composite plan” that, pension attorney Ann Curry Thompson told forum-goers, more closely resembles a 401(k). The composite plan would base retirees’ benefits on the performance of its investments and, critically, receive no backing from the federal Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation.

Allowing employers and pension administrators to divert money from defined-benefit plans and into composite plans would almost certainly increase the number of federally insured funds facing critical shortfalls – and make more retirees vulnerable to benefit cuts made legal by Kline’s 2014 reform bill, Curry Thompson warned.

Bill Moore, president of the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, said the prevailing attitude in Congress regarding pension reform – that the only solution is to cut benefits earned by working people – is dangerously skewed in employers’ favor.

“A pension is not a legacy,” Moore said. “It is not a gift from our employers… It’s deferred compensation.” Despite retirees’ advancing age, Moore added, “one thing we don’t forget is the hours and days and number of years that we put in to earn our pensions.”

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan checked a fact with pension attorney Ann Curry Thompson while addressing retirees Dec. 3.

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan checked a fact with pension attorney Ann Curry Thompson while addressing retirees Dec. 3.

At least three members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation haven’t forgotten either. U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken – all DFLers – spoke at the forum Saturday in opposition to Kline’s composite bill.

“Promises made should be kept,” Klobuchar said.

Lawmakers also pledged to remain vigilant for any attempt to sneak the composite bill through the lame-duck Congress.

A day before the forum, Franken sent a letter to leaders of both parties in the House and Senate urging that any pension legislation “be carefully considered and debated openly and honestly, not enacted at the last minute with little debate, few hearings and no opportunity to offer amendments.”

Franken also offered a potential tool for the Pensions Benefit Guarantee Corporation to help struggling pensions, like the Teamsters’ Central States Pension Fund, meet their obligations: closing a tax loophole on carried interest – a provision of the tax code exploited only by “the top one-tenth of the 1 percent,” Franken said.

Regardless of how it happens, Curry Thompson said, Congress can’t afford to let pension funds leave retirees high and dry. The economic fallout of pension failure makes retirees “too big to fail.”

“As politically unpopular as it is, what is really needed is a … public solution,” Curry Thompson said, noting that pensioners spend money, pay taxes and contribute to economic growth. “I’ll call it what it is. You need a bailout.”

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Teamsters retirees warn of lame-duck push for legislation gutting pension benefits

December 2, 2016 by
Jeff Brooks (R) and Bob McNattin, both retired members of Teamsters Local 120, have been raising awareness among area unions and labor federations about a looming attack on defined-benefit pensions.

Jeff Brooks (R) and Bob McNattin, both retired members of Teamsters Local 120, have been raising awareness about a looming congressional attack on defined-benefit pensions.

They fended off drastic cuts to their pension benefits earlier this year, but Teamsters retirees aren’t resting on their laurels.

Instead, they are organizing to stop a new bill gaining momentum in Congress that would weaken, rather than strengthen, the funding of defined-benefit pension plans. It’s known in Washington as the “composite bill,” and retirees like Bob McNattin fear it will sneak through Congress during the lame-duck session.

“The composite bill is, I think, intended to be the pathway to get employers out from under any pension obligations to their employees whatsoever,” he said.

A retired truck driver and former member of Teamsters Local 120, McNattin is an officer in the organization Save Our Pensions-MN. The group formed in response to the Central States Pension Fund’s plan to slash benefits by as much as 65 percent for tens of thousands of Teamsters retirees.

The Treasury Department rejected Central States’ proposal in May, but the fund, which is backed by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, remains in financial trouble.

Now, Save Our Pensions-MN is lobbying Congress to find a permanent fix that will secure the pension’s financial viability – and it’s not the composite bill, retirees say.

According to the non-partisan Pension Rights Center, the composite bill “would allow relatively healthy multiemployer plans with secure and adequate benefits to transition to two inferior plans: a ‘legacy plan’ that allows employers to make smaller yearly contributions than the original plan and a new ‘composite plan’ that makes no binding promises to workers and retirees.”

McNattin called it a “cynical bill” that reflects the prevailing attitude in Congress regarding pension reform – that the “only solution is to cut the benefits of people who have already retired.”

Union Advocate“It’s a betrayal of trust,” he said.

Save Our Pensions and other retiree groups don’t have a lot of time to muster opposition to the composite bill, which, according to the Pension Rights Center, could be following the same path as the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which allowed Central States to demand steep cuts from current retirees.

The MPRA never received a stand-alone vote, but was attached as an amendment to must-pass, year-end legislation keeping the government open.

“These bills would never pass on their merits because they’re so flawed,” McNattin said.

To call attention to the composite bill and discuss other threats to retirement security, Save Our Pensions-MN will hold a forum at the Weyerhaeuser Memorial Chapel at Macalester College Dec. 3. It’s free and open to the public.

“Whether it’s pensions or Social Security, it’s all on the chopping block now,” McNattin said. “But I’m confident we will be OK, as long as we unite.”

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , ,

Bill Moore: Finding motivation for Labor 2016

August 18, 2016 by

web.postalservice-billI’m not much into political candidates. Maybe it’s because I was born in Chicago, where the party was the important thing. I was living in Illinois the first year I could vote. I just pulled the lever at the top for the Democratic ticket.

In 1967 and early ’68, I volunteered for Gene McCarthy’s presidential campaign, organizing precinct caucus turnout in Dubuque. I liked McCarthy, and when Hubert Humphrey temporized on the war and McCarthy withheld his half-hearted endorsement ‘til just a week before the election, I was bitter and voted for the Socialist Worker candidate. A year or so later, a friend ran for County Attorney in Dubuque and I worked for his election, not just because he’d been a McCarthy activist, but because I knew him and his family and liked them a lot.

Since then, I’ve worked on many campaigns, but, with the exception of Paul Wellstone, haven’t felt much of a personal connection with candidates.  It’s their records I’ve cared about – that they’ve worked for peace and justice and taken practical, positive action on labor issues. A good friend has berated me for years, saying that’s pretty abstract and not enough for most people. Personalities are important in politics, he insists. Most people vote, not for platforms or policies, but for other people they like and feel good about.

He’s probably right. But what happens when none of the candidates are particularly likeable and the airwaves and mailboxes are crammed with repulsively negative political advertising? Will voters, then, give greater weight to their own values and issues and base their choice more on parties’ and candidates’ records than on personalities? Or will they just tune out and stay home?

We’ll find out soon enough. But I don’t think, as trade unionists – even retired and tired ones – that we want simply to wait in front of our TVs for the outcome.

The Minnesota Labor 2016 program aims specifically to get labor voters talking about what’s important to them, and thinking about what party and which candidates are most likely to address their concerns in a constructive way. Hopefully, this approach will encourage union households to stay engaged and turn out for working family candidates on Election Day.

But that won’t happen unless each of us turns out, in the coming weeks, to make phone calls, write postcards and visit union households (hips and knees permitting). There are tens of thousands of people to communicate with, one-on-one. And it’s our challenge – and privilege – to reach as many as we possibly can.

If not us, who? If not now, when?

I’ve taped this message to the bathroom mirror: “November 8th is coming – What will I do today to turn out the labor vote?”

– Bill Moore is president of the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO. He originally wrote this column for the council’s newsletter, the Retiree Bulletin. You can help turn out the labor vote in 2016 at an upcoming Labor 2016 Day of Action.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , ,

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.

Filed Under: Community, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Talking more than weather, ZeVan’s memoir recalls a career ‘among the giants’

April 8, 2016 by

81pezcc85ULBarry ZeVan – “the weatherman” to television viewers in Minnesota and across the country – has written a memoir that looks back on his career in broadcasting and show business, and he’s donating a share of proceeds from the book to two union charities.

The 78-year-old ZeVan self-published “My Life Among the Giants” earlier this year after a writing process that took 11 months. The book runs 284 pages long, includes 32 bonus pages of photos and is available for purchase now on Amazon.com.

The memoir recounts ZeVan’s many run-ins with celebrity actors, artists and politicians over the course of his career – relationships that stemmed mostly, he said, from “being in the right place at the right time.”

“I got to meet ambassadors and presidents and kings and queens and everything else,” he said. “Being in show business and broadcasting, you meet everyone eventually.”

ZeVan’s friend Jerry Stiller, the legendary actor and comedian, encouraged him to collect his stories in a book. “Some people have said my life should be a movie,” ZeVan said. “The problem is it would be a 17-hour movie.”

Locally, ZeVan is best known for his work delivering TV weather forecasts on KSTP and, later, KARE. His broadcasts on KSTP drew a 51-percent share of the Twin Cities audience in 1974, higher local ratings than anywhere else in the country, he says.

ZeVan also did the weather for TV stations in Detroit and Washington D.C., where he struck up friendships with high-profile ABC news anchors and reporters. Ted Koppel was his neighbor, ZeVan says, and Peter Jennings “was like a brother to me.”

Sam Donaldson wrote a review of ZeVan’s memoir that appears on the back of the book. “How can Barry ZeVan know so many famous people?” Donaldson asks. “Beats me, but he does and the stories he tells about them make fascinating reading.”

But ZeVan, who continues to work as a documentary producer and narrator, has done more than deliver weather forecasts over the course of his career.

He got his start in radio at the age of 5 doing spots for KDKA in Pittsburgh, and two years later – before the rest of the country had TV stations – ZeVan was acting on a New York TV station. As a high-schooler, he acted in “Mr. Peepers” and danced on the Philadelphia-based “Teen Club,” featuring Dick Clark as its announcer.

ZeVan signed his first union card at 16. In fact, he joined three unions – the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Actors Equity Association – in the span of a month.

“It meant I got more professional work,” ZeVan said. “If you’re not a member of those unions, you don’t get professional work – or professional pay.”

Not only is ZeVan a longtime union member, he’s a longtime union activist as well.

He serves as a vice president of SAG-AFTRA’s Twin Cities local and on the advisory board of the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO. Last summer he used his acting skills in an advocacy role, addressing a Democratic National Committee meeting on retiree issues in the character of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Barry ZeVan gave a speech while in character as his boyhood idol, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at a DNC meeting in Minneapolis last year.

Barry ZeVan gave a speech while in character as his boyhood idol, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at a DNC meeting in Minneapolis last year.

“We need unions today more than we ever did,” ZeVan said.

That’s why he’s donating 20 percent of proceeds from “My Life Among the Giants” to two union-sponsored charities, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and The Actors Fund. Both help workers in the industry who are struggling to make ends meet.

“I’ve been there,” said ZeVan, who recalls picking up shifts as a taxi driver when work was scarce, just to make an extra $10 a week. “I know how it hurts to be struggling. It’s no fun.

“And thank God for that union pension. That helps a lot of us in the business keep bread on the table every month.”

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: , , , , , ,

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.”

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bill Moore: To act together, we’ve got to get together

December 17, 2014 by
web.postalservice-bill

Bill Moore is president of the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO.

“GOP tightens grip on white working class,” read the headline on an Oct. 31 Wall Street Journal story datelined Aitkin, Minn. The story reported how Democrats have been losing their hold on rural Congressional districts with largely white populations, where incomes lag the national average and college graduates are relatively sparse. The authors quoted men breakfasting at Aitkin’s Birchwood Café who said they formerly were Democrats, but planned to vote for Stewart Mills over Rep. Rick Nolan in the 8th District Congressional election.

Rick Nolan won that election. But he didn’t win in House District 10B, and labor champion from the Aitkin area, Rep. Joe Radinovich, lost his seat. So the question remains: Why does the GOP, which opposes affordable universal health care and livable wages and would prefer privatization of Social Security and Medicare have any kind of grip at all on working class voters? And why did so many working people in Greater Minnesota – not just around Aitkin – vote against their own economic interests, or not vote at all?

It wasn’t for lack of communication with labor voters. By all accounts, the Minnesota Labor 2014 program generated more home visits, phone calls, mail and worksite conversations than ever before. And the DFL voter communication program was as strong as it’s ever been. But smaller memberships in rural districts mean that, however vigorous the labor effort, there may not be enough union voters to turn the tide. Same for the DFL.

But there’s more to the story. I don’t think enough people, whether in Greater Minnesota, the suburbs or the cities, belong to organizations where they think and act together on issues of common concern relating to their economic life.

Many people belong to congregations where they reflect, pray and act on matters of faith – more often than not, relating to sexuality and marriage. NRA chapters bring folks together around their Second Amendment rights, and Legion and VFW posts focus on veterans’ issues. But there are nowhere near as many citizen organizations addressing bread-and-butter economic issues. Our unions do that, drawing workers together to deliberate, decide and act to make life better at work and in their communities. But if you don’t belong to a labor (or farmers’) union, where do you reflect and act together with co-workers and neighbors to assure a just reward for work, workplace safety, good health care and education, a healthy environment, decent transportation and a secure retirement for all? And where do you get accurate information about these and other matters?

Many complain about negative TV, radio and newspaper ads and the deluge of viciously false mailers in some districts. But, if people aren’t receiving more accurate information somewhere else, on a regular basis – not just during campaign season – it’s easy to see how they could be swayed or, at least, confused or discouraged from voting.

On the radio the other day, Sister Simone Campbell, one of the Nuns on the Bus, described recent conversations she had with people who were confused and discouraged by negative political advertising, felt alienated from politicians and weren’t going to vote.

“It’s that alienation, separation, division that’s driving people apart,” she said. “We’ve gotta get into community so we’re connected to each other; so that there is an antidote from all of the money, all of the negativity, all of the ferocious stuff.”

Getting into community and connecting with each other: That’s called organizing. As union members and retirees, helping workers connect in unions is our focus. But, where that’s not timely or possible right now, we need to help form other kinds of democratic citizen organizations where working people can join together to learn and act to free themselves from the GOP grip.

– Bill Moore is president of the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO. This column originally appeared in the council’s newsletter, “The Gopher Retiree.”

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

In Minneapolis, hundreds rally against Social Security’s closed-door policy

August 28, 2014 by
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (R) leads a rally outside the Social Security office in Minneapolis, which has reduced its service hours.

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (R) leads a rally outside the Social Security office in Minneapolis, which has reduced its service hours.

Doors to the Social Security Administration’s field office in Minneapolis were locked at 3 p.m. yesterday, and they could stay locked permanently – in Minneapolis and at field offices across the country – if the federal agency gets its way.

That’s the warning sounded by federal workers rallying on the street outside the Chicago Avenue office yesterday.

About 200 members of the American Federation of Government Employees, holding a convention in Minneapolis this week, rallied with federal lawmakers and local retirees, raising awareness of Social Security’s plan to close hundreds of local offices just as the number of Social Security-eligible Americans is about to hit its peak.

AFGE President David Cox speaks to the crowd in Minneapolis.

AFGE President David Cox speaks to the crowd in Minneapolis.

Already, the Social Security Administration has closed 80 community offices nationwide, AFGE President David Cox told demonstrators, and “they’re looking to shutdown all the rest.”

A report released earlier this year by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging found the agency had shed 11,000 workers and closed 553 contact stations over the previous three years, and “had reduced or eliminated a variety of in-person services” at a time when Baby Boomers are filing claims in record numbers.

Social Security provides financial assistance to elderly, disabled, widowed and orphaned Americans, “people who through no fault of their own cannot provide for themselves,” Cox said. AFGE members who staff Social Security offices – and the Americans who rely on them – are baffled by dwindling federal support for “the most popular government program in our nation’s history.”

Marie Milsten-Fiedler of Minneapolis relies on face-to-face service provided by Social Security employees.

Marie Milsten-Fiedler of Minneapolis relies on face-to-face service provided by Social Security employees.

Social Security Administration officials have said office closures and staff cuts are part of a plan, known as Vision 2025, to transition most of the agency’s face-to-face services online and to call centers. But the plan does not sit well with Social Security beneficiaries like Marie Milsten-Fiedler of Minneapolis, who called it “pennywise and pound foolish.”

“Not all of us have the ability to pay for computers or Internet access,” Milsten-Fiedler said. Filing for benefits “is a major life changing event. It is extremely stressful, and folks should not be stuck alone in front of a computer screen. People should be available to help us through it.”

Professionals also are needed to protect against Social Security fraud. Milsten-Fiedler said she had to show several forms of identification in order to begin receiving her Social Security benefits. “How’s that going to happen over the Internet?” she asked.

Dana Duggins, an officer with the AFGE’s Social Security branch, said 95 percent of claims submitted over the Internet result in error, and reports of fraud are on the rise.

About 200 AFGE members joined the rally outside the Minneapolis Social Security field office.

About 200 AFGE members joined the rally outside the Minneapolis Social Security field office.

“We think the agency has put the cart before the horse,” Duggins said. “They don’t have the safeguards in place to protect the public. What’s worse is that Social Security staff are expected to push this system, knowing that it is hurting the American public.”

As the rally proceeded, several people approached the Social Security office, only to turn around after seeing the “Closed” sign. Before the rally began, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison told demonstrators, he encountered a woman who had traveled by bus to the office from Plymouth, “which I’m telling you is not close.”

“We need to make sure people who need Social Security have an open door when they show up to get Social Security,” the Minneapolis DFLer said. “If they can give a big tax cut loophole to some oil company, then they can open this office.”

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland also attended the rally. He thanked activists for standing up on behalf of “millions of people who worked hard, who made America great, who invested in the Social Security program and want to walk through that door during normal working hours.”

Filed Under: Politics, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Union retirees plan annual fundraiser

March 17, 2014 by

Gopher Retiree Sept-Oct 2012.pubThe Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, will hold its Eleventh Annual Fund Raiser from 2 to 6 p.m. May 3 at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 Hall, 1681 Cope Ave., in Maplewood.

Admission is free, and there will be free food, free parking and music.

This is not an occasion for retirees only. Rather, the council “urges active union members and their families to attend so there is an inter-generational crowd present. The event is planned as an opportunity to socialize and have fun with old friends and meet interesting new acquaintances.”

The fundraiser will feature several hourly raffles with prizes that range from gift certificates given by grocery stores, casinos, restaurants and hotels, to jackets, shirts and event tickets. A silent auction will include homemade food, a variety of gift baskets, collectibles and other items.

The evening will end with a drawing for cash prizes: $300, $200, $100 and two $50 prizes. The Retiree Council has been selling tickets for this raffle since December. If you have not had a chance to purchase tickets, contact the Retiree Council at 651-227-7647 ext. 121.

Proceeds from the fundraiser are used in the Retiree Council’s mission of educating union retirees about a variety of public policy issues and encouraging political action.

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: , ,

In address to union retirees, Dayton weighs in on Cretex strike, more

September 25, 2013 by
Gov. Mark Dayton (right) greets Minnesota AFL-CIO President Emeritus Bernard Brommer at the Minnesota State Retiree Council convention.

Gov. Mark Dayton (right) greets Minnesota AFL-CIO President Emeritus Bernard Brommer at the Minnesota State Retiree Council convention.

Addressing a roomful of union retirees in Maplewood today, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton recounted his morning meeting with members of Laborers Local 563 who are on strike, fighting to ensure a secure retirement of their own.

Dayton’s remarks to the Minnesota State Retiree Council’s 17th convention came on the heels of a dialogue with workers who have been walking the picket line outside the Cretex concrete plant in Shakopee since June 19. About 40 workers went on strike after the company refused to budge from its demand they give up the defined-benefit pensions many had been self-funding for decades.

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson introduces Gov. Dayton at the retirees' convention.

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson introduces Gov. Dayton at the retirees’ convention.

One Cretex worker, the governor recalled, had “tears streaming down her face” as she explained what losing her pension after 20 years of service to the company would mean for her family’s quality of life. Dayton did not identify Cretex by name, but said it was disheartening to see any company “take advantage of the fact there really isn’t a recourse for working men and women” when management decides to cut workers’ benefits.

The governor also said he planned to reach out to company executives for their side of the story, and that he hopes to see workers return to their jobs soon.

Tim Mackey, Local 563’s business manager, confirmed the meeting with Dayton, saying he was hopeful it would be a step toward resolution of the 3-month labor dispute.

“Thanks to this meeting with the governor, we can hopefully make further progress and get back to work,” he said.

Leaders from Operating Engineers Local 49 also attended the meeting with Dayton. Cretex employs 49ers at several of its facilities, and their current contract with the company is set to expire Dec. 31. That means 49ers are “on deck,” Business Manager Glen Johnson said.

“We don’t intend on allowing Cretex to take our members’ pensions away,” Johnson added. “We’re ready to fight for our members’ retirement too.”

The rest of Dayton’s remarks to retirees focused on politics. Highlights included:

• Jobs numbers. Dayton pointed to a report showing Minnesota had seen the fifth-most economic growth of any state last year. He also trumpeted the most recent state jobs report, which shows the state has regained all the jobs it lost during the Great Recession. About 122,000 Minnesotans who were unemployed when he took office, Dayton said, have jobs today.

“We’ve got 152,000 Minnesotans unemployed,” Dayton acknowledged. “We’ve got a lot more to do, but we’re making progress.”

• Minimum wage. A labor-backed coalition of groups announced plans during the State Fair to push a bill that would raise the state’s minimum hourly wage to $9.50 by 2015. Dayton said he supports such a bill, pointing out that the state’s current minimum wage of $6.15 per hour is the lowest among Upper Midwest states.

“What does that say about Minnesota and our commitment to working men and women?” Dayton said. “I believe we want work to pay.”

• Union organizing. Dayton said he was disappointed with a federal appeals court’s ruling that temporarily blocks a law passed last spring allowing child-care providers who receive state subsidies to vote on forming a union.

The legal challenge was bankrolled by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which represents providers who oppose the union. Dayton decried the corporate-backed legal fund as an “extreme right-wing element in this state and this country” that was fighting to keep workers from deciding for themselves whether to form a union.

Rather than fighting to strip them of their rights, Dayton added, “we should be embracing” the people who want to improve wages, benefits, working conditions and training opportunities for workers in critical fields like home health care and child care.

• Health insurance exchange. A new federal report shows MNsure, the new health insurance exchange created as part of the federal health care overhaul, will offer the lowest rates of any state in the nation. “That’s something to be incredibly proud of,” Dayton said.

Dayton also thanked AFL-CIO retirees – he called them “the voice of middle-class Americans who have worked hard all their lives and played by the rules” – for their work last fall to win pro-worker majorities in the Legislature. “We really moved Minnesota ahead,” he said.

Union retirees open their 17th convention with a singing of "America the Beautiful" at the Sheet Metal Workers Hall in Maplewood.

Union retirees open their 17th convention with a singing of “America the Beautiful” at the Sheet Metal Workers Hall in Maplewood.

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