WHEREAS:

More than 2.8 million individuals — primarily public employees or retirees and their spouses — have their earned Social Security benefits reduced or eliminated simply because of the fact that they or their spouses also earned pension benefits for separate work not covered by Social Security; and

WHEREAS:

These Social Security benefit reductions are a function of the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) laws enacted more than four decades ago; and

WHEREAS:

The GPO and WEP disproportionately impact public service workers who have worked or currently work both in jobs covered by Social Security and jobs not covered by the program. These front line workers pay into Social Security on their covered wages like any other worker but have the benefits they earn reduced or eliminated by the GPO and WEP; and

WHEREAS:

These provisions create undue financial hardship for retirees who have dedicated their careers to public service, often leaving them with significantly reduced retirement incomes and undermining the financial security they rightfully deserve in their golden years; and

WHEREAS:

The elimination of the GPO and WEP would provide much needed relief to countless retirees across the nation, allowing them to access the full benefits they have earned through their contributions to Social Security and government pension programs; and

WHEREAS:

The GPO disproportionately impacts low-wage workers in public service, particularly women. About 80% of public pensioners affected by the GPO are women; and

WHEREAS:

Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in Congress to eliminate the GPO and WEP. Senate Bill 597, sponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and co-sponsored by more than 60 Senators from both parties, is currently held in the Finance Committee. A companion bill has been introduced in the U.S. House, House Resolution 82.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME has and will continue to oppose the inequitable impact of the so-called Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that reduce or eliminate the earned Social Security benefits of millions of Americans, particularly public sector employees who have worked both in jobs covered by Social Security and those that are not; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME calls on Congress and the president to enact legislation to eliminate the GPO and WEP to provide relief to public service workers who earned their benefits but have them reduced by these outdated provisions of law; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will work to further raise awareness of the unfairness of front line public service workers who earn Social Security benefits but have them denied, in order to build public support for legislation to rectify this inequity.

SUBMITTED BY:
Lois Carson, President and Delegate
Michael Lang, Vice President and Delegate
Sheila Dawkins-Flinn, Secretary and Delegate
Davida Russell, Delegate
OAPSE/AFSCME Local 4
Ohio

Sean Grayson, President
David Kovacs, Recording Secretary
AFSCME Council 8
Ohio