Retirement Insights

AFSCME retirees urged to fight for their rights and benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Speaking to the June meeting of the AFSCME Retiree Council in Washington, D.C., AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee blasted Congress’ radical right wing for trying to cut Medicare benefits to pay for tax breaks for corporations and the rich.

"They’re trying to do this without hearings, without talking to the people out there," McEntee told the 80 representatives from across the country. He urged the retirees to call their congresspeople and senators to oppose the budget plan pending in Congress.

McEntee and other speakers emphasized the power held by union retirees. Calling retirees "AFSCME’s secret weapon," the International president congratulated the council on the growth of the Retiree Program — now over 180,000 members strong.

PENSION POWER. Discussing his work with the Council of Institutional Investors, AFSCME Sec.-Treas. William Lucy revealed that $1.8 trillion of workers’ pension money is invested in stocks, bonds and real estate. "We have a role to play in shareholder values. That money is what drives corporate America," he said.

AFSCME Research and Collective Bargaining Services Department Director Kerry Korpi focused on the importance of communicating and working with AFSCME members who are pension fund trustees. That’s why the AFSCME Pension Trustee Project was started. The project is currently completing work on a trustee training notebook. Its next goal is to identify all AFSCME-member trustees.

Managing Managed Care. Bruce Fried discussed the pros and cons of Medicare managed care with the council. As director of the Office of Managed Care for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Care Financing Administration, he has watched as increasing numbers of Medicare beneficiaries have joined managed care organizations. Currently 14 percent of seniors are in these plans. His office will soon poll "Medicare beneficiaries in every managed care plan we contract with," he told the retirees.

NO SOCIAL SECURITY CRISIS! All the hoopla about a Social Security crisis is "just a scam," said Mark Weisbrot, research director of the Preamble Center for Public Policy. "There is no crisis at all." According to the Social Security trustees, the system is completely solvent for the next 34 years. Then it will need only a small payroll tax increase, he said.

Stepping in for the council’s hospitalized chairman, John Slaven, Vice Chair Doris Clark moderated the information-packed agenda. In addition to discussing national issues, the group welcomed two new chapters — Iowa Chapter 61 and Philadelphia Chapter 47 — and recounted recent successes in other retiree chapters.

Washington state pensioners will soon get rebates of health plan payments thanks to a Washington Chapter 10 lawsuit. Because of a joint campaign by Illinois Retiree Chapter 31 and AFSCME Council 31, the state’s pension benefit formula will be greatly improved for future retirees. Similarly, California Chapter 36 joined with AFSCME Council 36 to obtain employer-paid health insurance for the spouses of deceased Los Angeles city retirees.

Meanwhile, Hawaii Chapters 152 and 646 are already making plans to host the next meeting of the Retiree Council which is scheduled to coincide with the August 1998 International Convention in Honolulu.

By Susan Ellen Holleran

AFSCME Retiree Survey

AFSCME retirees are pleased with their union.

In a poll of union membership taken earlier this year by Kiley & Co., 81 percent of retirees believed that AFSCME’s performance as a national union was good to excellent. Here are some other responses:

Concerns

Retirees offered the following issues as their top five priorities for the President and Congress this year:

• protecting Social Security, 40 percent;
• protecting Medicare benefits, 26 percent;
• improving education, 22 percent;
• creating jobs and economic growth, 14 percent;
• improving health care, 13 percent.

Viewpoint

When asked who represents their viewpoint, retirees said:

• President Clinton, 73 percent;
• The Democratic Party, 68 percent;
• AFSCME, 67 percent;
• The Christian Coalition, 26 percent;
• House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 26 percent.

Spending

Retirees favored increased federal spending in the following areas:

• Safe drinking water and pollution control, 80 percent;
• Job training, 79 percent;
• Crime control and prevention, 77 percent;
• Health care for children not covered, 77 percent;
• Education, 74 percent.