The Rich Are Different. They Have Jobs
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Goldman Sachs, one of the Wall Street firms that got the H1N1 flu shot well ahead of millions of America’s school children, sent this health tip in a memo to its pampered, out-of-touch execs: “Resist the urge to open your own car door; let your driver do it.”
Yo, Jeeves. While you’re at it, dust around the edges of those massive CEO pay packages. Because according to a report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), top executives at four companies that jettisoned their employee pension plans received $49.5 million in retirement and severance benefits in the years before the companies filed for bankruptcy, while retirees saw their benefits cut by as much as two-thirds.
Yet Wall Street bankers are making that cash flow keeps coming: Yesterday, writes David Dayen, Senate Republicans bowed low before their corporate masters and delayed a move by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to immediately take up a bill that would freeze all credit card rates, charges and fee increases.
Back to School for IBEW Retiree
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If you were looking for the union label at Penn State University’s recent graduation ceremonies, you likely would have spotted Regis Kingera. The 72-year-old retired Electrical Worker (IBEW), who earned his Bachelor of Science degree after enrolling at Penn State following his 1998 retirement, was sporting the IBEW logo on his mortarboard.
Our friends at IBEW.org have posted a fascinating look at Kingera’s post-retirement accomplishments and how his union electrician’s career provided his family with a good middle-class life, helped shape his children’s values and supported his retirement goals.
Read on.
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The American philosopher and education reformer John Dewey once coined a phrase that has echoed through universities for decades: “Education is not preparation for life–education is life itself.”
That maxim rings true for 72-year-old IBEW retiree Regis Kingera. On May 16, he walked across the stage to receive his diploma at Penn State’s College of Liberal Arts commencement ceremony. But far from being a checkered flag at the finish line, Kingera humbly sees this accomplishment as one more stone on the path of his life.
Investors to Corporations: Do You Stand with Workers—or Against Them?
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A coalition of major investors who oversee more than $750 billion in assets is joining the fight for workers’ freedom to form unions by asking major corporations what they’re doing to protect and enhance the ability of workers to form unions.
These investors want to know about these corporations’ workplace policies and whether these companies are lobbying for—or against—the Employee Free Choice Act, a critical bill to protect workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain. They’ve sent a letter to 100 CEOs asking for answers.
Investment leaders representing 36 investment funds and pension funds signed on to the letter, which they’ve sent to each company listed on the Standard & Poor’s 100 index, including major corporations like Bank of America, McDonald’s and Lowe’s.
Women Workers Less Likely to Have Secure Retirement
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Women workers are less likely than men to have enough money to retire comfortably because they generally live longer than men and earn less on the job, according to a new report. It will take a three-pronged approach to help women have a secure retirement, the report says: traditional pensions, supplemental 401(k)-type savings and Social Security.
“Shattering the Retirement Glass Ceiling: Women Need a Three-Legged Stool,” released this month by the non-profit research group National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), found that because of her longer life expectancy, a woman with an annual income of $50,000 would need to save $1,000 more toward retirement every year than her male counterpart to have an equal retirement experience. Yet, more than 45 years after the Equal Pay Act was signed, women in the United States still earn only 78 cents for every dollar men earn—even with similar education, skills and experience—and African American and Hispanic women earn even less. The wage difference makes saving money more difficult for many women.
Generations Must Stand United for Employee Free Choice Act
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Barbara J. Easterling was elected president of the Alliance for Retired Americans in February. She was previously the secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America. For more information, visit www.retiredamericans.org or call 1-888-633-4435.
Our nation’s economic crisis is affecting nearly everyone. Unless you are getting one of those big Wall Street bonuses, you are probably struggling to pay your bills, keep your home, or afford to see a doctor or fill a prescription. There is no longer any doubt that the fundamentals of our economy are broken.
One way out of this mess—and a way to help both current and future retirees—is for Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
The Employee Free Choice Act recognizes that our middle class is in trouble because more and more, big corporations hold all the cards. As they lavish their CEOs with bonuses and golden parachutes, they slash jobs and cut all the wrong corners on customer service and safety. They break their promises to workers and retirees, leaving millions without health care and retirement plans.
Working America AND UAW Don’t ♥ Sen. Corker
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The hundreds of UAW members who rallied Friday were among the thousands who have written Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) letters protesting his anti-worker stance and attempts to require major concessions from the UAW.
Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, recently sent a canvass team into Nashville and surrounding communities that collected more than 1,400 letters. Seven canvassers knocked on doors and greeted passers-by on busy streets and college campuses. Michigan State Working America Director Cara Alcantar, who helped with the canvass action in Tennessee, reported that
people are really supportive of what we’re doing, they’re supportive of the union, because they’re going through tough times. Most of the people we’ve spoken to do not believe that what Corker is doing is right.
Dockworkers Ask: Are Your Union Pension Funds Safe?
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| Too many fat cats trying to steal workers’ pensions. |
Jennifer Sargent, Northwest communications coordinator at the ILWU, sent us this from San Francisco.
In the current economic free fall, it’s wise to know where your pension funds are invested and whether they are as safe as you’d think. Union leaders of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and other union leaders are warning unions about a scheme that cost 60,000 Dutch dockworkers more than $1.7 billion in pension funds that had nothing to do with a sinking economy—and everything to do with a corporate sleight-of-hand.
To highlight the issue, more than 100 international protesters from labor and community groups rallied Jan. 12 at San Francisco’s landmark Transamerica Pyramid building. Union leaders from the ILWU, Teamsters and the Dutch dockworkers’ union FNV slammed the alleged looting of more than 60,000 Dutch dockworkers’ pension benefits by Dutch insurance giant Aegon, the parent company of Transamerica. The big corporation recently launched a plan to collect a huge hunk of cash from U.S. taxpayers under the bailout program but suddenly dropped the scheme last month.
Survey: Public Supports Guaranteed Pensions
Nearly nine out of 10 Americans believe that everyone should have access to a defined-benefit pension plan. Most also support creative government policies that would help make this dream a reality. These are some of the findings of a recent national public opinion survey of more than 800 Americans undertaken for the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS). On a conference call announcing the survey results, NIRS Executive Director Beth Almeida said she hopes that the survey can serve as an opinion benchmark for policymakers as they attempt to improve the fading retirement prospects of millions of people.
According to the survey, 85 percent of the public view retirement security as a shared responsibility between individuals, employers and the government. People believe the three-legged retirement stool of the past, consisting of Social Security, pension plans and private savings, is still the best approach to meeting retirement needs in the 21st century.
Is Retired UAW Autoworker Dad Public Enemy No. 1?
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When you think of “Public Enemy No. 1,” you picture a Depression-era John Dillinger or maybe the UniBomber. But David R. Radtke says he has learned some shocking news—his dad, a retired UAW autoworker, might fit that bill.
Says Radtke:
“I have a confession. My father is an autoworker. I know that some people will recoil in disgust upon learning that fact, but it gets worse—he’s a retired UAW autoworker, and he and my mother live on a pension and have retiree health care benefits that supplement Medicare. In other words, he is public enemy No. 1 to Sens. Richard Shelby, Bob Corker and Jim DeMint.
“According to these senators, my dad and his cadre of active and retired UAW-represented autoworkers are responsible for this country’s economic downturn.”
Three Cheers for Workers Who Waged the Sit-In
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Congratulations to workers at Republic Windows & Doors who made justice happen. After a six-day sit-in at the plant, workers at Republic Windows & Doors in Chicago voted to accept a settlement late last night.
This from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) site, via Jobs with Justice:
The settlement totals $1.75 million. It will provide the workers with:
- Eight weeks of pay they are owed under the federal WARN Act;
- Two months of continued health coverage; and
- Pay for all accrued and unused vacation.
JPMorgan Chase will provide $400,000 of the settlement, with the balance coming from Bank of America. Although the money will be provided as a loan to Republic Windows and Doors, it will go directly into a third-party fund whose sole purpose is to pay the workers what is owed them. In addition, the UE has started the “Window of Opportunity Fund” dedicated to re-opening the plant.
