Page 2 - Retiree News Spring 2018

CSEA President Danny Donohue:
WYe can make a difference
our guaranteed This is one example of pensions, health how a strong union can care and other really make a difference.
benefits give you the freedom to live out your retirement years securely.
Many of you simply
want to focus on
traveling or spending
time with your
grandchildren, which you deserve after many long years at work.
I hate to break it to you, but retirement is no time to relax when it comes to defending your pensions and benefits.
Many anti-labor groups, corporate interests and even some of your former employers want to gut your retirement security.
These aren’t gifts, privileges
or ‘entitlements,’ as some elected officials like to refer to your retirement benefits. You have earned them.
The reality is that nobody — employers or elected leaders — gives us anything. We must be willing to fight for what we have.
As a strong union, we stand up for our members, whether they are recently hired young workers or retirees like you. We know it’s important.
Over the past several years,
we have stood strong to protect retirement benefits for our retiree members. In every instance to date, we have been successful.
As we face an impending decision in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, we are urging our members to stay union and stay strong.
You may ask, ‘what does that have to do with
me as a retiree?’
It’s simple — if enough of our
members stop paying dues, we could lose the resources that
we need to stand up for you.
We recently played a key role
in stopping harmful changes
to retiree health insurance in Rockland County. We also helped stop two state budget proposals that could have harmed you. Without our union’s resources, we may not be able to stop future attempts to undermine you.
We urge you to not only encourage your working brothers and sisters to keep paying their dues, but to get involved and
be active in helping us save our union now.
You helped us build the best union in the country. Now, help us stay strong and make a difference for all New Yorkers.
In solidarity,
Message from Retiree Executive Committee Chair Millie Lucas
Even in retirement, we must stand strong
When we retired from our jobs, we didn’t retire from our lives.
While many of
us are spending
our retirement
years focusing on our family, traveling or pursuing other interests, we can’t afford to be complacent.
Thanks to our union, we retired with a guaranteed pension and health benefits that help us live more securely.
Corporate interests, anti-union groups and even our former employers want to put more money in their wallets — at your expense.
We need to stick together and let our opponents know that retirees are not an ATM. We earned everything we have, and we will fight to make sure we keep it!
In this edition, we highlight how our members in Rockland County stood strong after the county proposed changes to retiree health insurance. Thanks to our activism, county officials withdrew the initial plan.
I’m thrilled with this victory, but this issue is far from an isolated incident. Retirees across the state are facing their former employers cutting health insurance plans that they were
promised.
In every case, we have fought
back and won, largely because we are fortunate to have our union’s many resources, including legal, representation and political action.
Thanks to our political action efforts, we were also able to stop two proposals in the state budget that would have harmed our retirees, capping Medicare Part B premium reimbursements and eliminating IRMAA reimbursements.
These resources are a major reason we have to stick together and keep our union strong. The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to decide Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 in favor of the plaintiff. We will need to stand with our working brothers and sisters and urge them to Stay Union, Stay Strong.
In addition to standing with our brothers and sisters at recent rallies, we have also joined in several member engagement visits throughout the state. Without our union, we wouldn’t have our secure retirement.
That is why we must vow to never quit on our union — and urge our brothers and sisters to stick with our union, too. When we stand together, we can win!
In solidary,
Millie
In Memoriam
Frank S. Jazzo
CSEA is mourning the loss of former Westchester Retirees Local 921 President Frank S. Jazzo, 82, who passed away on Feb. 4. He had worked as a
civil engineer for Westchester County until retiring. In addition to local president, Jazzo had served in several retiree local offices. He is survived by his wife
Patricia, also a CSEA retiree activist, three children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
In Memoriam
Helen Dupree
CSEA is mourning the loss of former Florida State North Local Vice President Helen Dupree, 84, who passed away Feb. 11. Dupree was a charter member of the local when it was formed in 2003. In addition
to serving as the local vice president, Dupree was an activist in the local’s Unit 7 (Volusia/Flagler counties).
2
CSEA RETIREE NEWS