UE Convention Resolutions
UE Retiree Committees:
A Wealth of Experience
As working people we must use every avenue of defense in the fight against corporate America. Years of experience in the union and the workplace make retirees a valuable asset.
“RAGE,” the Retirees’ Association of General Electric, is composed of employees from Locals 506 and 618 in Erie, Pennsylvania. The 250 active members have led protests against privatization of Social Security and lobbied for universal healthcare. Their fight in 2007 for improvements to GE pensions helped mobilize GE workers across the country in a successful contract battle.
Retirees from other locals, like Local 1111 in Milwaukee and former Local 924 in Decatur, Indiana, meet monthly. They provide support for their working brothers and sisters in contract struggles, educate themselves regarding benefit issues, and lobby for the rights and needs of all retirees.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 71st UE CONVENTION:
- Calls on all locals and regions to encourage the formation of functioning retiree committees and to participate in local, state, and regional retiree associations, including the Alliance for Retired Citizens (ARC);
- Calls on the union to continue to fight for the right to bargain for retirees in contract negotiations;
- Calls on all retired members to actively defend and improve Social Security and Medicare, work to promote passage of a national health care program, and fight to preserve retiree health insurance;
- Call on all UE retirees to lend support to the contract struggles and other work of locals;
- Calls on locals to include in their newsletters and websites information pertaining to retiree events and upcoming meetings.