The power of organized retirees is not to be underestimated.

The CFT encourages retirees to stay active.  Every retired CFT member is eligible to remain a member for life for free.  This provides access to CFT and AFT publications.

The best way to be involved is through your local.  A number of CFT locals have retiree chapters.  To find out if your local has one, contact your local. If there is no active retiree chapter, you may start one.  To find out more about retiree issues, and for assistance in starting a chapter, contact:

• CFT Retirement Coodinator This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 650-787-2266
  
• CFT Retirement Committee Chair  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 415-956-8373
  

The following information is excerpted from the UESF Retirees' chapter newsletter, June 2009,
Gerry Meister, Editor

Are Our Pensions Safe?
CalSTRS CEO Jack Ehnes told us at last month’s membership meeting that, despite the worst economic situation since 1931, the CalSTRS portfolio is still valued at $120 billion, even though it’s dropped by 25 percent. He said that ever since the teachers’ pension system started in 1913, its philosophy has been to invest for long-term results, over 30 to 50 years. Now, because of that and its record of 8 percent average annual earnings through good times and bad, Enhes said CalSTRS will be able to meet and exceed its expectations for the future.

He discussed which investments were responsible for the largest CalSTRS portfolio losses (Lehman Bros., AIG), the root causes of the current economic turmoil (poor risk management, failures of oversight), CalSTRS’ campaign to get corporations to welcome diversity on their Boards of Directors to encourage fresh ideas and thinking patterns, and more. He also discussed the demographics of the 835,000 members of CalSTRS. Most members, for example, retire between ages 60 and 62, and 71 percent are women.

Ehnes said he did not think the current initiative petition aimed at renegotiating public pensions would reach the ballot. He noted that, even if it did, our pension security is based on contractual rights that are held to be “sacrosanct” by every state and the US Constitution. This means current retirees should be safe from this particular attack. But Ehnes also pointed out that future attempts to cut public employee pensions could be made to seem reasonable to the public by such proposals as raising the eligibility age for public employee pensions to match that for collecting Social Security benefits.

Social Security Fairness Rally
The rally, a first step in a drive to repeal of the WEP/GPO offsets, drew more than 2000 educators, retired and active, to the Berkeley Community Theater on May 30. The crowd, from all over the Bay Area, included many retirees already hit by the offsets and second-career teachers who will feel the financial impact in the future. The Grassroots Committee that planned the rally, chaired by teacher Karin Alexander of San Ramon, brought in an impressive array of speakers to support the Social Security Fairness bills now in Congress, HR 235 and S 484. Among those who spoke were Member of Congress Barbara Lee, members of the state Assembly and representatives from organizations who helped organize the rally by contributing money and time, especially CTA/NEA, retired and active. For more about the rally and the next steps we can take, check out the Committee’s website at www.socialsecurityfairness.com. Also, look for further information in the Newsletter.