Retirement Security
Fewer employers today provide defined-benefit pensions for their workers—and among those that do, many are offering “defined-contribution” (like 401[k]s) rather than traditional “defined-benefit” pension plans.
That’s why Social Security insurance is essential for millions of retirees. Nearly two-thirds of retirees count on Social Security for half or more of their retirement income and for more than three in 10, Social Security is 90 percent or more of their income. It is a safety net that keeps retirees out of poverty.
It’s also important to figure out what you will need to retire. Talking a look at how much Social Security will provide, whether you have another form of pension and how much you spend are all components in determining when you can retire.
For decades, workers achieved retirement security because their retirement income flowed from a combination of employer-provided pensions, Social Security and personal savings. But the recession has exposed the severe deficiencies in our retirement system. We need to develop a new way to provide workers with lifetime retirement security beyond Social Security.
More about this issue:
Is your local prepared for the upcoming Janus decision?
If we hope to maintain a strong membership with ownership of their union after Janus, we have to change our local union practices and cultures. How do we keep our membership high and shift our focus to constant member engagement and development?
The people hired today will shape our movement’s future. We will explore the importance of New Hire orientations in fostering close and on-going relationships with members.
Anti-labor organizations throughout the country are behind the Janus case, and are raising money to persuade our members to drop their Union membership. We will look at their history, practices and messaging and make a plan to inoculate our members and community against the attacks.
We know we have to talk about Janus with our members. But what do we say and how do we communicate it? We will discuss both the fundamentals of crafting a powerful message about Janus, and the variety of tools—from printed materials to emails to social media.
How do we have effective conversations and measure our effectiveness? We will drill down into the fundamentals of one-on-one and member-to-member conversations. We will discuss various ways and techniques to map your membership, and to track and analyze the data.
Please join us as we stand with the members of Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW who are fighting for their first union contract with CVS.
