Retirees
About the Alliance for Retired Americans
The Alliance is a unique state/national organization working to create an America that protects the health and economic security of seniors, rewards work, strengthens families and builds thriving communities. It was launched nationally in 2001 and in Wisconsin in 2005 by a coalition of AFL-CIO affiliated unions and community-based organizations dedicated to economic and social justice.
The Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans
The Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans is a voice for retirees and older Americans. Our goal is to educate, energize and mobilize Wisconsin seniors to make a difference through activism.
The Wisconsin Alliance fights for:
A strong Social Security system that provides guaranteed
benefits & protects families for life.
• Health care seniors can depend on
through Medicare
• Affordable and accessible prescription drugs
• Strengthen Pension laws
• Affordable and accessible long term care
• Continuation of the Wisconsin Senior Care Prescription Drug program
• Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act
General Membership Meeting
Retired members can join us at the regular scheduled General Membership Meetings the 4th Monday of every month.
Retiree's Club
If you are interested in forming an Automotive Mechanics Lodge Local 510 Retiree's Club, please call 414-774-7140.
Kourpias Urges Retirees to Fight for EFCA
The following essay about the importance of the Employee Free
Choice Act (EFCA) is by former IAM International President George
J. Kourpias, who currently serves as president of the 3-million
member Alliance for Retired Americans.
“Unions built the middle class. By standing together, we fought for
and won better wages, health care and pensions, and safety and
respect on the job.
But much of what we achieved is crumbling in today’s troubled
economy. Many of us worry that our children and grandchildren will
not live as well as we have. More than ever, American workers need
the good wages and benefits that they can best achieve through
collective bargaining.
As the former president of the Machinists union – and now as
president of the Alliance for Retired Americans – there is no doubt
in my mind that the fate of workers and retirees is undeniably
linked.
We cannot have a solid, stable retirement unless we have a solid,
stable middle class. For example, union workers are three times
more likely to have a defined-benefit pension plan than non-union
workers. And union workers are five times more likely to have
health insurance than non-union workers.
To me, it is no coincidence that as it becomes harder for workers
to form and join unions, more and more Americans are struggling to
take care of their families, see a doctor or get a prescription
filled, or retire with any sense of comfort.
According to the National Labor Relations Board, in 2007 nearly
30,000 workers faced illegal employer retaliation for trying to
join a union – that is five times as many as in 1967.
How do we change this? Workers and retirees must fight together to
pass the Employee Free Choice Act so we can finally crack down on
companies that break the law and try to block a worker’s freedom to
join a union.
What can retirees do to help?
First, talk to your children and grandchildren. Polls have shown
that younger workers may not be as aware of the benefits of
collective bargaining. Tell them all about what our generation went
through to create jobs that could support a family. And how much it
hurts to see it all slipping away.
Next, tell your Representatives and Senators in Washington. Call
the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121.
Retirees have a lot at stake in this fight. We know what collective
bargaining did for us, and we want only the best for our children
and grandchildren. If we stand together – retirees, workers, and
community leaders – we can pass the Employee Free Choice Act and
restore economic security to people of all ages.”
