By The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)

– This summer CLUW has been working hard to battle the heat brought from Congress to cut Social Security by means of a new “Chained Consumer Price Index (CPI)” formula. Currently Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is designed to adjust social security benefits to the current cost of living. The “Chained CPI” is a formula Congress has proposed that would not take into account the significant portion of a senior’s budget which goes towards medical costs. The cut resulting from a “Chained CPI” formula would be immediate, and would compound benefit reductions so that seniors lose more as they get older. A senior retiring at age 65 in 2011 would lose about $6,000 in benefits over 15 years using this formula. “Chained CPI” is a smaller measure of inflation, which operates under the assumption that seniors can replace purchases with less expensive alternatives and ignores the fact that costs such as health care cannot be substituted.

Judy Beard, CLUW National Treasurer, liaison to the Mature Women Workers Committee and Director of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Retiree Department commented,

“…President Obama stated in his state of the Union address in 2011 that we should strengthen Social Security without cutting the benefits of current retirees, and he needs to keep his promise, because retirees (receiving an average yearly benefit of just $14,669.16) don’t deserve the burden of the deficit which they didn’t cause.

As with many issues facing the working class, such as unemployment and underemployment, stagnant low wages, and workplace discrimination, cutting Social Security by instituting the chained CPI (or through any other means, such as raising the retirement age) will affect women (and our families who depend on us) even more harshly. We already know that the average Social Security benefit is lower for women than for men, and women rely even more on their Social Security income than men do. Social Security is a critical anti-poverty program for women and their families, and older women are more at risk for poverty than older men, partly due to higher health care costs. Women especially simply cannot afford this cut to their essential Social Security benefits, and no Social Security recipient deserves to have the burden of federal budget cuts amount to their having to choose between the mortgage and health care…”

On June 29th, Eleanor G. Bailey, director of APWU’s retirees in the Metro New York City area, and a past National Vice President of CLUW, represented CLUW in New York City for a forum on social security, hosted by the New York Chapter of the National Action Network Political Action Committee (NANPAC). Dawn Jones, the chairwoman of NANPAC, is also a CLUW member. Joining Eleanor Bailey on the panel were four other experts, including Dionne H.E. Polite, Associate Director of Multicultural Initiatives of the AARP of New York, Jacquel Ryan, Medicare Benefits Specialist for Metroplus, Benjamin W. Veghte, PhD, Research Director for Social Security Works, and Edlyn Wiler, Esq., of the Harlem Community Law Office. The program was presented to seniors, caregivers, families and the general public with over a hundred in attendance.

Sister Bailey explained, “Woman can least afford any cut in benefits …many [women] have worked in low paying jobs or have worked part time, so their benefits are lower than men’s. Also, women tend to live longer than men. The “Chained CPI” cuts would be devastating in their later years.” She informed the group that the Chained CPI formula would amount to a $1,000 or more cut to our seniors’ budgets annually, and asked, “Who can afford this? How are [seniors] going to buy health care cheaper?” Social security cuts affect all seniors, and, as Sister Bailey pointed out, Chained CPI “puts seniors – especially those in their 80’s and 90’s – at risk for poverty. 1 in 6 older Americans live in poverty.”

Ms.Bailey urged the audience to join with New York seniors, and from around the country, to participate in the National Day of Action against Chained CPI.

On July 2nd, in over 50 cities nation-wide, over 2,000 people demonstrated against the Chained CPI by lining up and creating a human chain against the Chained CPI. Organized by the Alliance for Retired Americans, many CLUW members, including Eleanor Bailey, participated in this day of action.

In Ohio, lifetime CLUW member Toni McBroom (past IAM member) along with union members from the Steel Workers, IAM, and UAW and retirees, families, and children demonstrated against the Chained CPI outside Ohio 5th district (R – Bowling Green) Congressman Robert Latta’s office on the National Day of Action. Below the group is pictured with signs that read “Chained CPI = stealth tax on the middle class and cuts for seniors,” “Social Security is an earned benefit” and “Say no to chained Social Security cuts.”

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