Trumka: Retirement Security Promise Must Be Kept
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The ability to retire after a lifetime of hard work is not just an economic issue, it’s a moral one, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, speaking today at the Retirement USA “Re-Envisioning Retirement Security” conference.
Joining U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and an array of experts and leaders, Trumka took part in a conversation about the breakdown of the promise of retirement security and what we need to do to restore it.
Trumka called the retirement security crisis one that
threatens American workers with yet another painful consequence of the “you’re on your own” social and economic model of the last thirty years.
Seniors Honor Kourpias, Set to Carry on Fight for Health Care
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Even though his title may have changed, George Kourpias is still as active as ever in the fight for the rights of America’s workers. Kourpias, who retired as president of the Alliance for Retired Americans in February, was honored last night at the organization’s national legislative conference.
Kourpias, the former president of the Machinists (IAM), was the first president of the Alliance. During his tenure, the Alliance grew to 3.5 million members and built a strong grassroots political force that played a key role in the 2006 and 2008 elections. This week, the retirees displayed their political energy by lobbying on Capitol Hill for affordable health care for everyone.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka praised Kourpias as
a man who every day of his life…has been devoted to combating the forces of greed and privatization that threaten the dignity of those who work for their daily bread.
Believe me, anybody who has ever confronted him on an issue of principle—whether corporate executive, congressman or senator—has come away knowing that George Kourpias is a man of towering convictions.
Sebelius: Now Is the Time for Health Care Reform
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This is the year for passing real health care reform and to begin rebuilding the nation’s middle class by passing laws that give workers a free choice to join a union. And union retirees, one of the most active political groups in the country, will play a big role in bringing about change, top government leaders said.
Speaking in the opening session of the Alliance for Retired Americans annual legislative conference last night, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the seniors they can be a big part in the historic shift in health care policy.
This is the time [to pass health care reform]. This is the moment. We cannot let it pass by. This is the year for health care reform to be passed. It’s the president’s number one priority.
Retirees Set to Tell Lawmakers: Health Care Reform Now
For three hours before the formal opening of their annual legislative conference today, members of the Alliance for Retired Americans got down to business by taking part in workshops on health care reform and Social Security. They will be joined by speakers such as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
Throughout the June 15-18 conference in Washington, D.C., delegates and many high-level officials and union leaders will discuss the best solutions to the nation’s health care crisis and develop strategies to protect and strengthen Social Security.
In her opening address, Alliance President Barbara Easterling said seniors are in a unique position to influence the debate on health care. It is important for seniors to define the health care issue for Congress and the American people, Easterling said.
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.
Health Care Reform, Revived Economy Best Rx for Social Security, Medicare
Brace yourselves. With today’s release of the Social Security and Medicare trustees’ annual reports showing the nation’s sinking economy has had an impact on the Social Security Trust Fund, doomsayers will be crying for drastic medicine that’s not needed.
The trustees 2009 report on Medicare paints a compelling case for comprehensive health care reform to rein in the skyrocketing health care costs that are driving Medicare closer to the financial brink and weighing down the entire economy.
A closer look at the Social Security 2009 report shows the program continues to run large surpluses and remains capable of paying scheduled benefits in full for the next three decades. The trustees reaffirm that the Social Security system is sound and faces no immediate danger, says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
Frances Perkins: ‘For God, FDR and the Millions of Forgotten…Working Men’
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Great turnout yesterday at a book talk here by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kirstin Downey, who discussed her new biography, The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience.
At least two generations of lawyers, teachers, scholars, government workers and union activists crowded in the AFL-CIO Gompers Room in Washington, D.C., to hear about one of the union movement’s most beloved heroes—Frances Perkins, labor secretary in Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency and the first woman in American history to serve in the Cabinet.
As Downey observed:
The AFL-CIO is a place Frances believed in so much. She wasn’t from the labor movement herself, but she was a very strong supporter of the idea that workers need to organize into unions so they can negotiate better wages and working conditions.
Frances Perkins: The Woman Behind the New Deal
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On March 25, the AFL-CIO will host author Kirstin Downey who will discuss her new book, The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience. The event, at 12:30 p.m., includes a light lunch. Copies of the book will be available for signing. If you’re in the area and can stop by, please RSVP to 202-637-5297. As the review below points out, Perkins’ role in the New Deal has too long been underplayed.
When Frances Perkins stepped into her office as labor secretary, the first-ever woman in a presidential Cabinet, her welcoming committee consisted of this:
A huge cockroach.
It’s a fair guess few had a rougher welcome to a high Washington position than Perkins did in 1933. In a splendid new biography of Perkins, The Woman behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, Kirsten Downey writes:
Some male Labor Department staffers threatened to resign rather than report to a woman.
AFL-CIO Executive Council: Economic Recovery Package Good First Step
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| IBEW President Ed Hill, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney meet with workers at an IBEW training facility in Miami. | |
In the AFL-CIO Executive Council’s first full day of meetings in Miami, union leaders today addressed vital aspects of reviving the nation’s economy for working families, including growing good jobs, reforming health care, strengthening Social Security and revising the nation’s trade practices, especially with China.
The economic recovery package is a good start to turning around America and putting workers back on the job, say union leaders, who emphasized that rebuilding the nation’s major economic engine—manufacturing—will require strong compliance with the Buy American provisions in the package.
The council also called for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to help boost the economy by restoring workers freedom to form unions and bargain for better wages and benefits.
Meeting at the union hall of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 349, the Executive Council began the day with a video address from President Obama. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis—who on Monday night joined the council and 700 community members in a forum—spoke with the council during the morning session today.
Union Leaders Join in White House Meeting on Health Care, Social Security
After eight years with a virtual “Do Not Enter” sign at the White House front door, President Obama has opened 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to leaders, policymakers and advocates of a wide range of views.
Yesterday, union and business leaders, conservative and progressive economists, and think tankers and Democratic and Republican lawmakers came together for a “Fiscal Responsibility Summit.”
At the opening session, Obama unveiled his outline to cut the $1.3 trillion federal deficit he inherited from the Bush administration in half by the end of his term by letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire, reining in tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and drawing down troops in Iraq, among other items.
