I remember walking from East Second street in South Boston with my grandfather, “Papa”, as I used to call him. Often times we would take a stroll around Castle Island and then later head up to my favorite spot as a small child, Slocum’s Toyland on East Broadway. Papa let me pick out a small toy (and sometimes a not so small toy) as he and Mr. Slocum shot the breeze. I have green and red memories of the small army men and firefighter figures, but my favorite were the Batman toys. Every once in a while I’d get the latest Batman figure, and one day I even came back to 2nd street with the Batmobile, just in time for the rerun.
Papa could afford these small luxuries for his grandson, and not have to eat stewed tomatoes out of a can, because he had a pension. He retired from John Hancock in the 1970s and received a decent retirement package thereafter. The cost of living never stopped him from being able to spoil his grandson, even during the difficult economic times of the early 1980’s.
Why does this anecdote matter? Many of our nation’s retirees can no longer afford to actually retire and enjoy their grandchildren after a lifetime of working. Many must now make significant sacrifices as their savings dwindle and their retirement plans become devalued as the cost of living increases. I implore you to fight for a raise in the base of the COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment).
Currently, BTU retirees receive 80% of their last year’s salary. On top of that retirees receive a COLA increase at 3% of $13,000, or $390 per year, or about $1.07 a day. Certainly this is not a realistic “cost of living” increase.
Last year the BTU , led by a very active retiree membership, advocated for an increase of the COLA base to $16,000 per year. Not only was this measure defeated, but no increase was made. The most notorious adversary to “blocking” this increase was Sam Tyler’s BMRB (Boston Municipal Research Bureau), a conservative “stink tank” masked as a government “watchdog” group. This same group advocates for sweetheart tax breaks for big business friends and does not favor an overhaul of the outdated P.I.L.O.T. (payment in lieu of taxes) program. Sam Tyler, the head “watchdog” since 1983, takes in a hefty salary, often creating a conflict of interest as his salary is paid for by insurance, financial, utility, and law firm corporations. If you think $32.50 a month increase is a sweepstakes giveaway, then go work for the BMRB (which also tried to stop the increase of the base from $12,000 to $13,000) as a policy wonk.
However, if you think that the Papas and Gramma’s of the city should be spending more time with their grandchildren, and less time working as Walmart greeters, then seek out a retiree activist. The retirees’ fight is our fight and they need our support. We enjoy many of the work rights and benefits that retirees battled to gain for us; we owe them. If we are lucky one day we will join their ranks. Their cause is an active member cause: The choice is simple: “Do you want to go to Slocum’s” or “Good evening, welcome to Walmart!”.
