Posts tagged Retirement
Opinion: An educator is leading NC’s battered ranks of teachers to unionize
July 31, 2023 // After two years of pushing unionization as a volunteer, Mangrum has taken a part-time, paid consulting role with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the nation’s second largest teachers union with 1.7 million members. Her job is to explore the union’s potential to organize a significant share of the state’s 94,000 public school teachers. “We have members across the state,” Magnum said. “Two years ago we didn’t have any.” Just how many, she wouldn’t say, but she allowed that it’s more than 100
Santa Maria man who embezzled from county union fund sentenced to 11 years
July 28, 2023 // Torres, who served as a deputy probation officer for Santa Barbara County, embezzled roughly $635,000 of public funds from the Santa Barbara County Probation Peace Officer Association (SBCPPOA). Torres was president of the association for over 20 years. Funds stolen from the SBCPPOA bank account were dues contributed from members’ paychecks. Torres embezzled those funds over a span of 10 years — from Jan. 1, 2009, to June 30, 2019. Torres was ordered to pay $1,072,654 in restitution to the SBCPPOA and $328,345 in restitution to the California Franchise Tax Board, the DA’s Office said.
A Bandage Approach: Teaching after Retirement
July 26, 2023 // The problem is that allowing retired teachers to come back to the classroom does nothing to address the problem. Let me be clear on what I mean by “the problem.” I am not talking about the problem of teacher recruitment and the number of people entering the profession. I’m talking about the teacher pipeline problem caused by the retirement system itself. It is a system that pushes people out. It incentivizes teachers, principals, and superintendents to retire in their mid-50s. This new provision does not address that issue; instead, it makes it worse. Researchers have long known that defined-benefit pensions, such as those used in the Missouri teaching profession, have two key effects on the labor market. They provide a pull for workers to stay until the peak benefit period, then they push workers out. If a teacher begins working in Missouri right out of college around the age of 22, they will likely hit their peak benefit period around the age of 53. If lawmakers truly want to keep great late-career teachers in the profession, they should revise the system that pushes them out in the first place. The best way to do this would be to move to a new type of pension system where teachers’ retirement plans would continue to accrue wealth as they continue to work through their 50s.
Hundreds Of Northshore Mining Workers Join United Steelworkers Union
July 21, 2023 // The union said in a statement Tuesday that Northshore Mining was the last remaining taconite mine on the Iron Range without a union. Roughly 400 workers mine taconite in Babbitt and make iron ore pellets in Silver Bay.
Cummings wins runoff, will be Communications Workers first African-American president
July 12, 2023 // Cummings is the union vice president who leads CWA’s District 6, headquartered in Austin, Texas, and was the longtime president of Houston-based Local 6222. He defeated Ed Mooney, the union vice president and leader of mid-Atlantic District 2-13. Cummings succeeds current President Chris Shelton, who is retiring at the end of this convention, on July 13, in St. Louis. Mooney suffered from credible accusations, disclosed by an outside investigating panel after complaints from nine former and present local leaders of sexual harassment, dislike of gays, bullying, intimidation, and retaliation against foes within the union.
Federal court hands down a major conviction of corrupt union bosses
July 2, 2023 // "LEEBA inflicted severe damage on its members over the years, to the point that it created division, disgust and disdain," said Bruce Mateer, a former member of the union. "Thanks to LEEBA, we have one of the worst-paid police departments in the entire state of New York and we lack proper retirement benefits. LEEBA is supposed to serve their members, but both contracts that LEEBA signed did not meet their members’ needs." Labor unions are supposed to have one simple function: represent their workers during negotiations with management and try to get the best deal possible. Kenneth Wynder and his cronies are unfortunately just the latest in a long tradition of union bosses who decided to make enriching themselves their No. 1 priority.
Industries Raise Alarm over Aging Workforces
June 28, 2023 // The construction industry is suffering labor pains similar to those of the trucking industry. "We've got a lot more people retiring than coming into the industry. We appreciate that that's not unique to construction," said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives at Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), a trade group for the construction industry.
BACKGROUNDER: Employee Rights Act
June 26, 2023 // Sponsored by Rick Allen (R-GA) The Employee Rights Act of 2025 safeguards and strengthens the rights of American workers. It guarantees workers’ right to a secret ballot election, ensures they can work directly with their employer if they opt-out of union membership, protects worker privacy, allows workers to choose to fund union politics or not, provides legal clarity for small business owners and independent contractors, and guarantees fair representation for all American workers.
Ex-NY state trooper convicted of stealing cash from union members that he blew on Dallas Cowboys tix, Lexus
June 1, 2023 // The pair stole, embezzled and misappropriated money from the union’s annuity fund and from individual members’ retirement accounts — making hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent transfers, the feds said. Some members’ accounts were completely wiped out because of Wynder and Brown’s theft, prosecutors alleged.