Alliance for Retired Americans Blog

Ohioans Push for Repeal of Senate Bill 5

Yesterday, hundreds of retirees and workers alike cheered as the referendum on Ohio’s controversial collective bargaining law was officially certified for the November ballot, with tens of thousands of signatures to spare. Over 1.3 million total signatures were turned in last month to put the referendum on the November ballot to overturn Senate Bill 5's drastic actions. 

In the morning, the Ohio Alliance's Norm Wernet sat on the Ohio AFL-CIO Community Allies Roundtable yesterday morning with AFL President Trumka and a wide variety of community organizations including: NAACP, Union Veterans, African American Greek Fraternal Organizations, Community for Change Ohio, A Phillip Randolph, pastors, and others. All parties present were there to talk about how and why they are  fighting for economic justice through the ballot campaign to repeal Senate Bill 5, which would strip public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights.

Wernet said:

It is a simple math, better wages and working conditions means a chance at retirement. Lower wages and benefits and unsafe working conditions mean less security and less of a chance at retirement or a life after work plays out.

Bargaining in the workplace is an American tradition part of building out our democracy. Retired trade union workers know democracy at work has to be defended for all who work. Retired workers public and private fought for those basic rights at work and SB5 moves the clock backwards.

Back in the 60’s and 70’s many public worker wages were so low that you could work 30 - 40 years and still be in poverty in old age and qualify for Aid for the Aged. I know because I took their applications in the welfare department. ... Public workers lived in or near poverty after we got too old or disabled to work.

This spring Ohio Alliance for Retired American leaders organized members and joined the repeal drive without being asked or prodded because: An injury to one is an injury to all.

If you are a steelworker, an auto worker, a chemical worker, a telephone worker, or even a public worker, we have all seen retirement security eroded by mis-management, bankruptcies, stock market manipulation and bad business deals gone wrong. Bargaining needs to be strengthened for all workers not diluted.

The bargaining law did not cause the state’s fiscal issues. The lack of work did. The People’s veto of SB5 is essential to protecting all who want to live into a life after a life of work.

The Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, its leaders and members, are ready to engage this campaign for basic rights at work and a reasonable standard of living.

 

That evening, a town hall meeting in Columbus drew a large crowd who heard from AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka and Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga about next steps with the referendum to repeal the anti-collective bargaining Senate Bill 5. Alliance President Barbara Easterling joined the town hall via tele-conference call which included an additional 70,000 on the line. The town hall event kicked off the campaign to defeat the statewide assault on civil rights at the polls in November.  Easterling said, “Our Ohio chapter has over 270,000 members and nearly 100 groups, and we will do everything we can between now and November.” 

Photos: Norm Wernet from town hall in Columbus. Top: 3 Akron retirees; Bottom: Retired Steelworkers from Columbus

People's World ~ It's Our Turn: Campaign to repeal Senate Bill 5 takes off

 

An EPI Forum: Social Security & Youth

By Barry Dalin

It’s a sad reality of our times that young people do not know much about Social Security and its benefits. For the average young person, retirement is either too far off to think about, or a luxury they don’t believe they will be afforded. Ask most college-age students their thoughts on Social Security and you might get a “Social Security won’t be around by the time I retire” response.

Perhaps most troubling is the fact that these younger workers are set to face the greatest burden from any future changes to Social Security. To combat this apathy and reenergize the youth, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) held an educational forum titled, “Engaging Younger Generations in Social Security Debates” in their Washington, DC office on Wednesday.
       
Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners began by summarizing research for the audience that evaluates youth’s opinion on Social Security and other retirement issues. The key findings of her research suggest that young people actually are worried about Social Security’s future, and they do feel very strongly about keeping it intact as a means of retirement security. According to Lake’s study, 6 in 10 voters under the age of 30 strongly oppose cutting Social Security to fix America’s deficit woes.

Moreover, Lake noted that across all age groups, roughly two-thirds of voters favored eliminating the $106,800 cap on taxable income for Social Security, a policy many respondents referred to as a “loophole” and not a cap.

Dr. Teresa Ghilarducci, Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Insurance, debunked the myth that retirement programs reduce the share of public expenditures geared towards the youth. Through a comprehensive, comparative analysis, Dr. Ghilarducci concluded that in wealthy nations, there is a positive correlation between expenditures on the young and the old. This means that in the U.S, every 10 percent increase in spending on the young results in a similar 7% increase on programs for the elderly (as a share of GDP). This statistic boldly challenges those in Congress who believe we must reprioritize which constituencies receive publicly funded social services.

Kathryn Anne Edwards, an EPI Research Assistant & author of A Young Persons Guide to Social Security brought the discussion full-circle by redefining how best to talk about Social Security with younger generations. Above all else, Edwards reminded the audience that Social Security kept 20.5 million people out of poverty in 2009 alone, 6.5 million of which were children. Edwards emphasized Social Security is not just a retirement program, it is a program that provides critical support to widows and children. This, she stressed, goes to the crux of Social Security, as it acts as a critical safety net that protects people against the ever-increasing economic uncertainty of our times.

The general consensus amongst the panelists pointed to a dire need for Congress to strengthen, not cut Social Security. With unemployment rates through the roof and private pension plans being thrown out the window, younger generations will need Social Security more than ever.

Through good times and bad, Social Security has consistently been there to protect the most vulnerable. In essence, with only a little explanation, Social Security can sell itself. This was on full display at the forum where it took only a couple Power Point presentations for the young people in the room to realize the importance of Social Security and get angry over certain proposals being thrown around in Congress. Now is the time to tap into this energy to unite the young and old to take a stand against irresponsible cuts to Social Security.

150 Residents Celebrate Medicare’s 46th Anniversary in San Diego, Attend Forum on Future of Social Security, Medicare, & Medi-Cal

San Diego --- Over 150 people participated in the Town Hall on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (Medi-Cal) on Tuesday.  The standing-room only crowd heard from advocates and experts on these issues and participated in a lively exchange with speakers on the future of important retirement security programs.  

Participants included seniors from area senior centers, people with disabilities, homecare workers, and local members and affiliates of CA Alliance for Retired Americans.  Translation was provided in Spanish and Vietnamese.  The program concluded at 12:00 with lunch, birthday cake, song, and celebration of Medicare’s 46th anniversary that is July 30th.

 Guy Cargulia, CARA CAT Convenor said, “The meeting is an example of the interest and concern that people have for their retirement security. The new faces and organizations involved is inspiring! With so many Californians already struggling to get by, things would be much worse without Social Security, Medicare, and Medi-Cal.  Fortunately, people are willing to get involved to save these programs from the chopping block."