PENSION REFORM—OUR FUTURES
AT RISK!
23 January 2009
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
I write to you today about a very important issue—our future pensions.
The supplemental budget if passed will eliminate the COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENTs (COLAs) in our retirement from the State of RI. We cannot allow this budget article to pass; we cannot allow the State of RI to break its promise to its workers. A promise the State made to us when we became vested.
If this budget article were to pass, Rhode Island would be one of the only, if not the only, pension systems in the county to provide no COLA to its retired workers—and the only state in the nation to revoke the COLA.
Your Union leadership is working hard to defeat this budget article; but we cannot do it alone. We need your help. Call and write to your senator and representative. If you don’t know who they are call the Local 580 office and we will get the information for you. Tell them that you want them to defeat this article. The State of Rhode Island has balanced the budget on the backs of RI State workers for too long; too often—it must stop now!
If you would like to become more active in defeating this and other anti-union articles in this budget, call the Local 580 office at 785-0206 and leave a message with your contact information.
To determine who your representatives are click on this link www.sec.state.ri.us/vic or www.rilin.state.ri.us/.
YOU MUST ACT—WE MUST ALL ACT—NOW!
Yours in solidarity,
Phil
Phil Keefe
President
Rep. Schadone
I contacted my Rep, Greg Schadone in North Providence, he got back to me and told me that he wouldn't be voting for anything that Carcieri submitted in the supplemental budget (59 yr old retirement age). Nice guy, then he goes and votes for the minimum of 65 yrs old as a member of the House Retirement study. No wonder he wasn't voting for 59 yrs old. These DINO's cannot be trusted at all, he's one of Murphy's boys and does as he is told.
Follow-up
Hi Matt--Do you plan to follow-up on this? It would be interesting to hear what he has to say now that he voted for age 65.
Thanks.
Yes
Yes, Karen, I plan on getting back to him, only this time by phone. I have his number in the office and will be out for another week or so, but when I get into the office and get his number I will be contacting him. Just posted this so if any of the brass runs into him at the State House maybe they could bring it up to him also and ask what his thinking is.
Thanks
Matt
union directio
I believe we should be communicating more and better with membership
answer the question "what has the union done for me?"
highlight any victories eg greivances won, 40 fountain st. progress
If we want members to act tell them exactly what to do in print.
make membership meetings more action oriented and interesting.
eg. and organized presentation on specific budget proposals effecting
members,or a speaker from seiu reporting what their doing for members.
put more such info on the website.
involve more members actively in committees, actions.