Make a difference! Join PEOPLE! What is PEOPLE? CSEA’s PEOPLE program protects and improves our jobs, benefits and pensions in Washington, Albany and in your community. Your support and participation in PEOPLE strengthens CSEA’s clout in the workplace, in the legislature, in your community and in the labor movement. Why does PEOPLE matter to me? While most Americans don’t like politics, as a retired public employee you are more subject to politics than most. From pension and health benefits to Social Security and prescription drugs, politicians at all levels of government are making decisions that directly and strongly affect you and your family. Does PEOPLE make a difference? Like it or not, political spending and activism was, and is, essential to getting and maintaining your pension and benefits. While we may not have the resources of the wealthy and corporations, PEOPLE allows us to pool our resources and, together, make a difference. How can I help? Join PEOPLE today! Because PEOPLE contributions can now be automatically deducted from your pension check, joining PEOPLE is easier than ever. Call 1-800-342- 4146, ext. 1404 to get a PEOPLE application! Fill it out and put it in the mailbox! Sign up for “This Week in Albany” E-mail Alerts cseany.org/SignUpTWIA The quickest and easiest way to stay up to date on what is happening in Albany and Washington is “This Week in Albany.” Sign Up Today at cseany.org/SignUpTWIA “I believe in the PEOPLE Program. It has been a proven method of political action for our membership. It gives us the clout to accomplish the needs of our union families. The union works because we work.” — Kay Walton, St. Lawrence County Area Retirees Local activist, who recently was named PEOPLE Recruiter of the Month for recruiting five new PEOPLE members at the MVP level. “Retirees need to be involved with the PEOPLE Program because it lobbies for us on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. (PEOPLE) helps us support our union’s fight for access to quality health insurance and dental and eye glass coverage for its members. These types of benefits become increasingly important as we age.” Sample letter for your representatives Date Dear Representative/Senator: I am writing to ask that you vote against the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This agreement will only benefit large, multi-national corporations and will do nothing to grow and strengthen the middle class in the United States. Free trade agreements have resulted in lost jobs, stagnant wages, increased inequality and other negative consequences for workers. Twenty years after the passage of NAFTA, the Economic Policy Institute estimated that almost 700,000 U.S. jobs had been lost as a direct result of the agreement. The TPP will continue these job losses by making it even easier for corporations to outsource American jobs to low wage countries. Not only will America lose jobs, but the TPP will push wages down by making American workers compete with labor from countries such as Vietnam, who make less than 65 cents an hour. This will serve to encourage companies to either demand large wage concessions from American employees or to ship the jobs overseas. In both scenarios, Americans lose because of the TPP. Lastly, the TPP will raise the costs of prescription drugs for all Americans. Under this trade agreement, pharmaceutical companies will be given new monopoly rights. This will allow them to keep lower priced generic drugs off the market for longer periods of time and require Americans to pay more and more for life saving medications. This agreement does not help the American people and I am asking you to oppose it. Sincerely, — Millie Lucas, president of the Suffolk Retirees Local and PEOPLE Committee member WINTER 2016 5
Retiree News Winter 2016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above