04.19.23 #11 NUCPP AT WORK - NUCPP forms coalition with Alliance

#11 NUCPP AT WORK!

APRIL 19, 2023

NUCPP FORMS COALITION WITH ALLIANCE

April 19, 2023

Pension Warriors/Retirement Security Warriors,

The National United Committee to Protect Pensions (NUCPP) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the formation of a coalition with the Alliance for Retired Americans (Alliance).  The NUCPP was formed in 2016 “to ensure hard-working Americans pay into pension funds that remain solvent and to educate, inform and advocate for accountability, reform, and restoration of multi-employer pension funds.” In November 2022, the NUCPP revised its Mission Statement to include acting as a ‘watchdog’ for retirement security issues, including pensions, social security, and Medicare. The NUCPP was at the forefront of the grassroots movement to save pensions that affected over 10.1 million Americans. 

When asked what the advantage is for the NUCPP to form a partnership with the Alliance, NUCPP President Kenneth Stribling stated:

“When Washington passed the MPRA in 2014 without any warning or input by the retirees, multiemployer pensions were severely threatened.  Rather than just sit idly by as we watched our hard-earned pensions be taken away, we formed a grassroots movement, the like of what Washington had never seen.  This movement wasn’t formed by lobbyists, paid professionals, or big businesses but by retired truck drivers, warehousemen, and dock workers.  We were fortunate that we had good leadership and dedicated Pension Warriors. After over 8 years, the pension crisis was averted by the signing of the Butch Lewis Act, a section of the American Rescue Plan Act, by President Joe Biden, in March 2021. Although our pensions were saved, it taught us a valuable lesson: Never let your guard down, never think Washington has your best interest, and always vote for those who will help you. 

Working with the Alliance will benefit both organizations as we bring awareness to retirees regarding retirement security issues.  As we found during the pension fight, there is strength in numbers. As we maintain our sovereignty, we will be a larger voice as we work with the Alliance.  The Alliance has its headquarters in Washington, DC. It will give us the ‘boots on the ground’ that we need without calling our Security Retirement Warriors (aka Pension Warriors) to travel to Washington at their own expense, as we did during the pension war.  We will also have more ‘first-hand knowledge’ of what is happening in Congress, rather than relying on articles in the newspapers or online. 

This is not a one-way street.  The NUCPP can be a dynamic partner with the Alliance.  We have a name in Washington and have shown that we can make a difference by working bipartisanly and standing up for what is right for retirees. Our Warriors will write letters, send emails, make calls, and, if necessary, travel to Washington.  If our social security is attacked, we will fight back just as we did to save our pensions.  Washington knows how determined we can be, and we’re not going away until they do what’s right.  Rita Lewis, wife and activist of deceased Teamster Butch Lewis, had a slogan during the fight- ‘A Promise is a Promise is a Promise’  Just like our pensions, Social Security was promised to us, and we will do whatever is necessary to keep it”.

More information concerning this coalition we are forming with the Alliance and other retiree organizations will continue to be shared with you.

The Board of Directors thank you for your continued support of the NUCPP.  

Take care!

NUCPP Board of Directors

Dana M. Vargo, Director of Communications, dmv.nucpp@gmail.com