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Happy Labor Day 2023!
Holiday

CFT offices will be closed for this federal holiday.

On Labor Day, we reflect on working people’s victories. Unions are more popular this Labor Day than at any time in more than 50 years⁠—with 71% of Americans now approving of unions.

But this momentum didn’t happen by accident. Working people have organized together for decades—standing together to address low wages, unsafe workplaces, unaffordable health care and a lack of respect on the job.

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Sign to support the passage of SB394
SB 394: Creating a Statewide Master Plan for Healthy, Sustainable, and Climate-Resilient Schools.

#YesOnSB394

Please take a moment to sign the CFT petition urging Governor Newsom and Assemblymember Holden to support the passage of SB 394 to create a Statewide Master Plan for Healthy, Sustainable, and Climate-Resilient Schools.

As California’s climate changes and extreme weather events such as heat, smoke, and flooding intensify, our aging public school infrastructure is increasingly unable to provide a healthy and safe learning environment. This threatens our health and safety as teachers and school staff and has serious, life altering impacts on our students.

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Standing Together

New Look for Orange County Classified Professionals
“Employees” is now “Professionals” – in line with the CFT approach

Get out your smart phones and change your listing for AFT Local 4794. Members of the Coast Federation of Classified Employees voted unanimously at their spring meeting for a new name and look. “Employees” is now “Professionals” – in line with the CFT approach – and a Local 4794 task force created a new logo.

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Organizing

Lawndale Federation brings home medical coverage for part-timers
The District scheduled part-timers so they were always a few minutes short of the ACA requirement to provide health benefits.

Watch this powerful video of members talking about their hard fought win for medical benefits.

For 30 years, the Lawndale Elementary School District denied their part-time classified employees health benefits. The District scheduled part-timers so they were always a few minutes short of the ACA requirement to provide health benefits.

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Data leak impacting hundreds of thousands of STRS and CalPERS retirees and beneficiaries

In June both the CalSTRS and CalPERS systems announced that data from a third-party vendor had leaked, impacting hundreds of thousands of retirees and beneficiaries in both systems. The leak did not impact actively employed members of either system.

In total, cyber-attackers stole personal information from 769,000 CalPERS retired members, including names, Social Security numbers, and birth dates. The hackers also may have gotten the names of former or current employers, spouses or domestic partners, and children.

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Find Key Resources

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WEP/GPO Repeal Toolkit

TAKE ACTION

Sign the AFT Petition!

The AFT is collecting signatures to help repeal the WEP and GPO.

SIGN THE AFT PETITION

Sign the Move-On Petition!

The national Alliance for Retired Americans started a petition to push the U.S. Congress to enact legislation that will repeal the WEP and GPO. Add your support by signing on to the Moveon.org petition. It’s fast and easy!

SIGN THE MOVE-ON PETITION

Contact your Congressional Representatives

Please contact your elected representatives to urge support of these bills before the U.S. Congress. The legislation listed below is current as of December 15, 2021.

Priority Bills

 H.R. 82 The Social Security Fairness Act of 2021 was introduced by Rep. Rodney Davis (D-IL) and would repeal WEP and GPO. It is the most comprehensive and bipartisan piece of legislation with 301 co-sponsors as of September 27, 2022!

H.R. 5723 Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust was introduced by Rep. John Larson (D-CT) on October 26, 2021, and would repeal WEP and GPO, among other issues. The bill has 194 co-sponsors, all Democratic. 

S. 1302 The Social Security Fairness Act to repeal WEP and GPO was introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on April 22, 2021. The bill has 36 co-sponsors, 30 Democratic, 2 Independent, and 4 Republican.

Limited Scope Bills

H.R. 2337 The Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act was introduced by Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and proposes a modified repeal of WEP. It has 183 co-sponsors, all Democratic.

H.R. 5834 The Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2021 was introduced by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) on November 3, 2021, and would eliminate the WEP. The bill has 38 co-sponsors, 35 Republicans and 3 Democrats, all Texans.

THE FACTS

Quick Definitions

The WEP and the GPO are penalties that negatively affect retirees who receive pensions from government agencies that do not participate in the Social Security system. This includes California teachers who are in CalSTRS. Many of these retirees have earned Social Security retirement benefits from other work during their lifetimes or for being an eligible spouse. The GPO and WEP cut or eliminate earned Social Security retirement benefits.

  • WEP — Windfall Elimination Provision
    Can cut an amount up to to half the value of your pension from the Social Security you have earned in other work. The WEP may reduce your Social Security benefit, but it will not eliminate it.
  • GPO — Government Pension Offset
    Affects your spousal, widow or widower Social Security benefits that are based on your spouse’s earnings. If you are married to someone who is earning Social Security, you will probably lose all spousal or survivor retirement benefits due to you from taxes paid by your spouse during the marriage.

Resources

U.S. Social Security Administration

CalSTRS — ​How does Social Security affect me?

Congressional Research Service — Search for WEP and GPO to find current reports.

Books

Social Security Offset Penalties book coverThe Hero's Penalty book cover

Social Security Offset Penalties 
By Jeanette A. Wicks (Cactus Valley LLC)
Covers how each offset penalty will affect you, how offsets are calculated, why they are unfair, and how to take action to end them. 

The Hero’s Penalty
How Social Security Works for Educators 
By Devin Carroll
Directly focused on the WEP and GPO, but more from the viewpoint of how to work around them rather than how to repeal them. Carroll also has a YouTube channel that covers retirement issues.

Social Security Works!
Why Social Security Isn’t Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us All  
By Nancy J. Altman and Eric R. Kingson (The New Press)
A highly respected, thoroughly detailed factual rebuttal of misrepresentations of Social Security’s problems, a book that offers solutions in a progressive framework that make clear sense about how to resolve “the crisis.”

NEWSROOM

These articles help explain the impact of the WEP and GPO on California teachers and other public service workers. 

From the CFT and AFT

From the General Media 


Find all of our articles related to retirement security in the CFT Newsroom.

RESOLUTIONS

The CFT has passed the following resolutions in support of repealing WEP and GPO.

The AFT has passed these resolutions.

PARTNERS

In addition to working with the AFT and the NEA, the CFT partners with the following organizations, to fight for elimination of the WEP and GPO.

National WEP/GPO Task Force
A national coalition of representatives from retiree organizations including the CFT working to repeal the WEP and GPO.

Social Security Fairness
A grassroots coalition working to change the WEP and GPO that deny many public employees, including California teachers, the Social Security benefits they have earned.

California Alliance for Retired Americans
The statewide alliance that unites retired union workers and community groups to win a more secure future for individuals, families, and future generations.

California Retired Teachers Association 
CalRTA’s mission is to protect and advocate for retired and active educators’ pensions and other retirement benefits and to support public education in our communities.