Print1. RETIREMENT NOT RETIREE ISSUES
Although pensions, health benefits in retirement, Social Security and Medicare are often considered retiree issues, nearly every member of the AFT has a vital interest in preserving and improving them. The assault on Social Security and Medicare, efforts to raise the retirement age, raids on pension systems and continuing pressure to reduce health benefits and increase out-of-pocket costs of health coverage are issues with implications for all AFT members. In most cases, working members would feel their impact more than retired members.
Recognizing this fact, the Task Force proposes a small but significant change of the nomenclature in many areas of the union's program, policy and publications describing these issues as retirement rather than retiree issues.
Actions which could support this change include:
Changing the name of the AFT Standing Committee on Retirees to the AFT Standing Committee on Retirement
Formally renaming the AFT Retiree Program, the AFT Program on Retirement and Retirees
Encouraging state federations, which have not already done so, to form Committees on Retirement, consisting of both working and retired leaders.
2. IMPROVE THE AFT DATABASE
According to the AFT poll, "Non-members have the same issue agenda as members, but while their awareness of the retiree chapter is high, their knowledge of the services and support such organizations offer is very low." Nine in 10 non-members say that they know their local union has a retiree chapter. Only 30% know a great deal about its activities; 40% say they know very little or nothing at all.
Polling data indicates that recent retirees who do not join a chapter tend to join other organizations. We believe that the process of encouraging retirees to remain active in the union and join retiree chapters should begin well before they actually retire. Unfortunately, the current AFT database does not include members' date of birth, length of service or Social Security number, three vital elements in identifying members nearing retirement. Current plans for a comprehensive database project a timetable of more than five years, hampering the union's ability to recruit the nearly 120,000 members expected to retire in that period.
In addition, many local affiliates still fail to report retired members even though this constitutional requirement went into effect in 1990.
The Task Force recommends that the AFT step up efforts to provide incentives for locals to report members as retirees and to put in place a database that provides essential data on working members, particularly data relevant for retirement.
Activities supporting this recommendation could include:
Developing a comprehensive education plan for local leaders and staff charged with reporting membership data
Speeding plans to put in place the AFT database, including additional incentives for affiliates to participate and ways to accelerate the timetable for full implementation
Once this data is available, devising a "Getting Ready for Retirement Kit" to help establish the AFT as an organization providing services and benefits for members when they retire
Sending a welcome letter and a lifetime membership card to every new retiree.
(To see graph A Report Card for the AFT, click here.)
3. CLOSE A CRITICAL INFORMATION GAP
Lack of knowledge about the national AFT retiree program is even greater among members nearing retirement. In the critical pre-retiree group, working members 55 and older, only 20% of poll respondents say they are very or fairly familiar with the AFT's record in representing retirees. Thirty-five percent say that the union does an excellent or good job. These figures contrast with the same group's 40% and 61% ratings of AFT performance in representing working members.
A leading cause of this problem may be the absence of coverage of retiree issues and activities in the AFT's major publications. Retired members do not receive American Teacher, American Educator, On Campus, FPE Reporter or HealthWire. According to the polling data, Lifetimes, AFT's quarterly publication for retirees, "is a much lower impact medium than other AFT publications-nearly all of which enjoy substantially higher levels of recollection.... Lifetimes is not an effective vehicle in its current form."
To date, issues such as pensions, Social Security, Medicare, the difficulties related to managed care and HMO's, preparing for retirement and other issues of aging have gotten little attention in AFT's mainstream publications. Yet these issues are of growing concern, not just to retirees, but to a large segment of AFT members nearing retirement, arguably a majority or near-majority of all members.
A second underutilized communications vehicle is the Internet. According to the AFT poll, two in five retirees have computers in their household. Although only 14% of all chapter members are now on line, those numbers rise to 21% among retired members under 65 (with non-members slightly higher, 18% and 24%, respectively). Even more significantly, 35% of members nearing retirement age are connected to the Internet.
Numerous AFT polls have indicated that the more members or potential members know about the union's activities on their behalf, the more likely they are to rate the union highly. AFT polling data indicates that, among working members very or fairly familiar with the AFT's efforts on behalf of its current workers, 79% say that the union is doing an excellent or good job, compared to 54% among members less familiar or unfamiliar with the union's efforts. The comparable figure for retirees is 77% excellent or good among those very or fairly familiar v. 45% among those less familiar.
The Task Force recommends that the AFT increase coverage of retirement issues in its publications and highlight the activity of retired members in these areas. In addition, we call for distribution of retirement-sensitive, mainstream publications, particularly American Teacher and its constituency counterparts, to AFT retirees.
Activities supporting this recommendation could include:
Creating a retirement section in all AFT general-interest publications with a format and positioning that would highlight AFT's commitment to and activities on issues related to retirement to members of all ages
Covering retirement issues and retiree activities more regularly in Action and other AFT leadership publications
Distributing these new, more retirement-sensitive, publications to all AFT retirees and terminating Lifetimes
Sending Action to all retiree chapter leaders
Disseminating a regular press packet on retiree issues to state and local union publications
Creating an AFT web page on retirement issues and updating more frequently the retirement area of the AFT site on America Online
Periodically evaluating the effectiveness of these measures and making changes where appropriate.
4. INTEGRATE RETIREES MORE COMPLETELY INTO THE LIFE OF THE AFT
Although the third-largest and fastest-growing of AFT's constituencies, with more than 135,000 members, AFT retirees remain largely outside the union's mainstream. Other than the biennial retiree leadership conference, there is no national meeting for retirees. They are rarely recognized at AFT meetings and rarely invited to attend.
The Task Force recommends that retirees be recognized in major AFT meetings and, where appropriate, invited to attend important regional and national meetings. We also call for closer coordination between the retirement and retiree program and AFT headquarters departments.
Activities supporting this recommendation could include:
Creating a Diamond Service award at the national convention for retiree members
Recognizing retiree chapter growth at the State Federation Presidents Conference
Encouraging state federations to recognize retiree contributions in similar ways at state conventions and other state and regional meetings
Designing convention workshops at both the national and state levels to include retirement issues
Designating a liaison to the national retirement and retiree program in appropriate departments of the national union. This staff member would communicate regularly to program staff on department activities connected to retirement issues or where retirees could play a role
Seeking AFT representation on the AFL-CIO Retired and Older Workers Committee, which currently includes presidents of most major unions.
