An AFSCME member joined public service workers, national labor leaders and members of Congress at a rainy Capitol Hill rally on Wednesday to demand that the Senate pass the Social Security Fairness Act.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) joined the rally to announce he will soon schedule a vote on the bill, which the House of Representatives passed last month with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority.
The bill — which would eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) provisions from Social Security — has the strong support of AFSCME members and retirees.
For years, they have fought for retirement security for all public service workers. AFSCME members have penned more than 15,000 letters to Congress urging them to remove the two unfair provisions, and shown their activism on the issue with previous rallies, online campaigns and more. Those efforts have brought the repeal of GPO-WEP closer than ever.
For 40 years, the GPO-WEP unjustly targeted those who have dedicated their careers to public service — like fire fighters, teachers, police officers, sanitation workers, postal workers and more. This leaves over 2 million retirees vulnerable to cuts to their already modest Social Security benefits, drastically decreasing their quality of life in retirement.
Lois Carson, the president of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE)/AFSCME Local 4 described how the GPO-WEP jeopardizes her retirement security.
“I worked for Columbus City Schools for over 40 years. I dedicated my career to helping improve the lives of children in my community — but when I retire, I am concerned I won’t have access to the full benefits I’ve earned to support myself and my loved ones,” said Carson.
“Full access to Social Security would finally give me, and tens of thousands of AFSCME members, peace of mind that we could afford to retire and continue to help our families. For now, I will keep working and worrying about long-term finances until GPO-WEP is finally repealed,” Carson said.
Schumer said of the looming vote on the Senate floor, “You’re going to find out which senators are with you and which are against you. What’s happening to you is unfair, un-American. I will fight it all the way.”
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has been fighting for this bill for years, said at the rally that he has been motivated by public service workers like Barb Ward, an Ohio bus driver and a member of OAPSE, who recently participated in a field hearing in Ohio. Ward is one of millions of public service workers who will see their retirements slashed by GPO-WEP.
“I’ve spent my whole career fighting for the dignity of work,” said Brown. “If you love this country, you’ll fight for the people who make it work.”
Edward Kelly, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), said, “I don’t mind standing out here in the rain for a little bit … knowing that those that came before us that did so much for this country … were screwed by the United States Congress. And this Congress has an obligation to fix that.”
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said, “Our police, our firefighters, our school teachers, folks who wake this country up every morning and tuck this country to sleep at night, these people deserve to retire with dignity, to retire with respect, and an assault against these workers is an assault against the entire labor movement.”
He added that anyone who votes against this bill is “no friend of the labor movement.”