13 Jul Pension Rally Brings 15,000 Union Members and Retirees to Columbus to tell Congress: “Save Our Pensions!”
Hundreds of BCTGM members and retirees traveled to Columbus to participate in the two-day event including Locals 1 (Chicago), 6 (Philadelphia), 19 (Cleveland), 57 (Columbus, Ohio), 58G (Toledo, Ohio), 70 (Grand Rapids, Mich.), 253 (Cincinnati), 256G (Sharonville, Ohio) and 372A (Indianapolis, Ind.).
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D) chaired the hearing of the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. Ohio’s other Senator, Republican Rob Portman, is also a member of the Select Committee and attended the hearing. Brown championed creation of the committee and calls the fifth public meeting in Ohio perhaps the most important to date. The bipartisan joint congressional committee is tasked with solving America’s pension crisis that has put the pensions of about 1.5 million retirees and active workers at risk.
“What Washington doesn’t always understand is that these folks sat at the negotiating table; they gave up wages over the last several decades today so that they’d have retirement security in the future,” Brown said.
In comments delivered during the rally, BCTGM International President Durkee proclaimed:
“Congress has within its power the ability to determine whether millions of workers will be able to live their retirement years with economic security and dignity, or in hardship, struggling every day just to get by because the pension benefits you worked so hard for and counted on have been cut.”
BCTGM Local 57 retiree Teresa Robinson, who worked at the Kroger bakery in Columbus for 32 years before retiring, was one of four BCTGM members invited to speak during the two-day event.
“Workers like me retire to enjoy life without the threat or possibility of a reduction in our monthly pension check. We are asking Congress to step up to the plate and do the right thing. Support hard working people. Don’t let our pension funds be a thing of the past,” proclaimed Robinson.
Retired Local 57 (Columbus) Financial Secretary and GEB member Vester Newsome worked in the baking industry for 45 years before retiring. “Over the years we would use our wage increases to purchase additional pension, thereby increasing the amount of our monthly pension check. When courts rule against workers and grant corporate executives bonuses and severance pay for mismanaging a company which ultimately causes the company to file for bankruptcy – THIS IS WRONG!”
Rick Norris, a Local 57 retiree who worked at the Stay Fresh Bun bakery for 34 years, urged the committee to find a solution that would not cause a reduction in pension benefits. “I’m not saying the government owes us anything we haven’t already earned. I’m not asking for any kind of handout. Our only request is for our government to stand up for working people and show us the respect we have earned. Please provide loans to our pension fund so all retirees can live comfortably after the years of hard work we put in.”
Following the Congressional hearing, President Durkee and Local 6 member Danny Melendez addressed a crowd of about 1,000 outside the Statehouse. Melendez, who works at Bimbo Bakeries USA in Lehigh Valley, Pa., offered his own story on how the pension crisis affects American workers.
After working for more than 20 years at the Nabisco Bakery in Philadelphia, Mondelez International, the parent company of Nabisco, closed the bakery in 2015 and sent production to its new plant in Salinas, Mexico. After his layoff from Nabisco, Melendez was hired at Bimbo Bakeries Lehigh Valley bakery, where the workers are represented by the BCTGM and thus, he was able to continue to earn pension credits in the B&C Fund, the Union’s multiemployer pension fund.
“It’s important to understand, our pensions were not given to us by the company. We earned these benefits over a lifetime of hard work in extremely demanding working conditions. We secured them and built them through our Union and the collective bargaining process.
“I am certainly not an expert on pension funding. Not by any stretch. But I do know that my Union, the company I work for and the leadership of the B&C Fund are working hard every day to protect our benefits. And, they are all in full agreement that it is critical for Congress to pass legislation that provides for long-term, low-interest loans to pension funds such as the B&C Fund. This will help secure our pension benefits for the future,” concluded Melendez, who closed his address by bringing the crowd to their feet chanting, “FIX IT! FIX IT!.”