The American Federation of Government Employees cried foul today on the Social Security Administration’s plans to rescind Social Security Rulings 66-18c and 91-1c, which allow the agency to question retirement allegations made by corporate officers and the self-employed.  

 “Development of questionable retirement allegations have always been an important part of what SSA employees do to ensure that only qualified individuals receive Social Security benefits,” said Steve Kofahl, regional vice president of AFGE Council 220. “By rescinding this policy, SSA will be ignoring potential fraudulent activity by wealthy corporate offices and self-employed individuals who shift their income in order to receive SSA benefits.”

 “Corporate officers and self-employed individuals are in positions to control how earnings are received, providing an opportunity to defraud the system.  Earnings that represent wages for work activity may be taken instead as dividends or other income.  Wages earned by the corporate officer may be erroneously reported as belonging to a spouse or child involved in the corporation, or not involved.  A self-employed individual may claim that a family member or other individual has taken over the business, with subsequent self-employment earnings reported to that person’s record in error, when there has been no real change.  Self-employment earnings also can be taken as other income, or plowed back into the business to be taken at a later date,” explained Kofahl. 

 In order to prevent fraud and the draining of the Trust Funds, SSA employees complete detailed questionnaires through interviews with corporate officers and the self-employed who claim that there will be a sharp drop in earnings, in order to maintain the integrity of the program. 

 The Trust Fund implications of rescinding questionable retirement review in the future are significant. For instance, benefits could be paid that are not due, depleting the Fund; earnings that would be subject to FICA taxation if reported properly are misreported as unearned income thereby Trust Fund income is further reduced; and as the full retirement age (at which benefits are no longer subject to deductions for work and earnings) gradually advances to age 67, there are more months/years between age 62 and full retirement age for which benefits should be withheld but are not.  The policy change clearly causes an increasing drain on the Trust Fund as the years go by. 

 “When SSA had field representatives in every one of the 1300 field offices, the field representatives made visits to businesses where there was a question about the veracity of what had been said during an interview, and it was not unusual for field representatives to be greeted by the so-called retiree or to see him/her continuing to run the business,” said Kofahl.  “Unfortunately, field representatives are nearly extinct.  It seems like proper administration of the Social Security Act is increasingly endangered as well.”

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 625,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia. For the latest AFGE news and information, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Thousands of American Federation of Government Employees Social Security employees at more than 130 Social Security offices across the country, along with the Alliance for Retired Americans, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the Strengthen Social Security Campaign took to the streets today to protest recent proposals from Congress that would cut the Social Security Administration’s operational budget.

 “Cutting Social Security’s budget at a time that record baby boomers are seeking benefits is another example of bad Washington politics.  These cuts will only punish Americans who count on Social Security and Medicare by adding to backlogs and limiting assistance for our seniors, the disabled and families that have lost a parent or spouse,” explained Witold Skwierczynski, president of AFGE’s Council of Field Operations Locals.

 Congress has proposed reductions from $473 to 882 million from the President’s budget request in SSA funding for 2012. 

 FY 2011 current status, results from nearly $1 billion below the amount the President requested.  As a result of those cuts, SSA implemented an agency-wide hiring freeze with the exception of the hearings operations.  This resulted in a loss of more than 3,500 SSA and DDS (Disability Determination Service) State employees.  More than 300 contact stations were closed, eliminating in-person services in many rural and remote sites.   SSA indefinitely suspended mailing the Social Security statement, without advance notice to the public, eliminating an important link between young workers and the benefits they will receive when they retire.

 Additionally, some members of Congress want across the board cuts from the FY11 level, which would be detrimental to SSA.  SSA officials have stated that for every $25 million cut below FY11 funding levels, every SSA and DDS employee would suffer a furlough day.  Across the board cuts, such as the 5% discussed, would result in the imposition of 24 furlough days for every SSA and DDS employee.  

Implementing cuts of $882 from the FY12 proposed budget by the President, would result in an ongoing hiring freeze.  SSA officials have projected that this would result in additional loss of 3,000 SSA and DDS employees.

 “Cutting Social Security’s budget will make it nearly impossible for Social Security employees to do their job,” explained Skwierczynski. “That spells disaster for those that depend on Social Security.  It’s also destroying thousands of good jobs. Social Security is our nation’s most popular and effective anti-poverty family insurance program.  It’s not the cause of our country’s economic woes. Cutting any part of Social Security or the jobs of those who work there is indefensible.”

 Members from Alaska, Alabama, California, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin participated in the events.

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 625,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia. For the latest AFGE news and information, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

 Barbara Jackson, vice president of AFGE Local 3615, who has spent the last 42 years working at the Social Security Administration delivering benefits for retirees, the disabled and survivors, spoke at the event about the cuts facing the Social Security Administration. 

“I entered the federal workforce for one simple reason – to serve the public.  And I have done that proudly.  I love my job. I have also been very active in my union, AFGE as a member and a proud officer.

But Congress is making it nearly impossible for me to do my job,” said Jackson.  “They are cutting the Social Security operating budget – the money that pays for the staff that delivers Social Security services every day. That spells disaster for those that depend on Social Security.  It’s also destroying thousands of good jobs.”

The rally was organized by the American Dream Movement and comes as the culmination of the progressive “Take Back the American Dream” conference put on by the Campaign for America’s Future, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.

 “I’ve been in the federal workforce for 42 years.  I can retire today.  But my job isn’t done,” concluded Jackson.  “I’m going to keep working on behalf of those who need Social Security.  And I’m going to keep working with every one of you here to make sure that Congress gets it right.  We need jobs, not cuts. We need to rebuild the American dream.”

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 625,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia. For the latest AFGE news and information, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Barbara Jackson, vice president of AFGE Local 3615, addresses the Jobs Not Cuts rally.

The event is being organized by the American Dream Movement and comes as a culmination of the progressive “Take Back the American Dream” conference put on by Campaign for America’s Future which is taking place in Washington, DC October 3rd-5th.  

For months, hundreds of thousands of members of the American Dream Movement have been urging Washington to focus on creating good jobs, and making the tax system work for all Americans, not just the super-rich. Yet there are still politicians in Washington who would rather force deep cuts to important programs that the middle class depends on just so they can give tax breaks to the rich—all the while doing nothing to create jobs.

WHO: Speaking at the rally will be Van Jones, President and Co-Founder of Rebuild the Dream; Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN); Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ); Linda Evans of Washington, D.C., an unemployed home health care provider; Isaac Jaillet of Deerfield, New Hampshire, an unemployed construction worker and father of three young children; Shawn Wygant, an unemployed blue collar worker from the town once known as “steel city” – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Michele Evermore, a rank-and-file nurse with National Nurses United (NNU); Mahlon Mitchell, a firefighter from Wisconsin; Barbara Jackson, a member and Vice President of AFGE Local 3615; Joseph Rosel Jr., USW Local 9447, representing 2,100 steelworkers employed at RG Steel Corp.; a representative from AFL-CIO’s America Wants to Work campaign; a youth speaker from a Generational Alliance delegation; a representative from the Center for Community Change; Sandy Carpenter, a Walmart worker from Change to Win’s Making Change at Walmart campaign; Tiffany Mellers, a MoveOn member and unemployed Army Reservist; a Domestic worker from Caring Across Generations; and a representative from Alliance for Retired Americans.

WHAT: American Dream Movement Rally to Demand Jobs Not Cuts. The rally is the culmination of the Take Back the American Dream conference put on by Campaign for America’s Future.

WHERE: Adjacent to the House Triangle across from the Cannon House Office Building (near 1st and Independence SE).

WHEN: Noon, Wednesday, October 5

More information on the rally can be found here: ourfuture.org/oct5rally

The rally is the culmination of the Take Back the American Dream conference and is being organized by the new American Dream Movement. The American Dream Movement is a growing movement inspired by protests in Wisconsin and fueled by the brutal right-wing attacks on the middle class and the poor. The American Dream Movement is made up of millions of ordinary Americans, along with dozens of leading grassroots organizations, fighting together for good jobs for all Americans, securing a future for our children and our communities, and finally making corporations and the super-rich pay their fair share in taxes.

WASHINGTON – The American Federation of Government Employees recently sent a letter to the Democratic members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, detailing the harmful effects of agency budget reductions on Social Security Administration services and programs.  “Any reductions below the FY 12 budget request will have adverse consequences,” stated AFGE National Council of Social Security Administration Field Operations Locals President Witold Skwierczynski, who was briefed by SSA officials on different budget reduction scenarios.  “Further cuts below the current FY 11 baseline will lead to furloughs, staffing reductions, office closings, longer wait times and general dissatisfaction with the Social Security system itself.”

The agency already has closed 19 offices to date in 2011.  AFGE expects that number to increase significantly before the end of the year, determining that as many as 515 offices could be at risk of closure.

“By closing Social Security offices, SSA is effectively removing face-to-face community based service from thousands of customers,” explained Skwierczynski. “SSA’s customers are senior citizens, survivors of a deceased wage earner, disabled people and the poor.  Many of these people are unable to effectively communicate their issues to SSA through telephone or through the Internet. Eliminating community based services from this population is outrageous and intolerable.”

Agency officials also indicated that the majority of employees lost in FY 11 and those projected to be lost in FY 12 are people who work directly with the public in field offices or teleservice centers answering telephone calls.  “The impact of losing these employees is already being felt throughout the country,” said Skwierczynski.

“The threat to the Social Security system by budget reductions and those who seek to dismantle the program is real and immediate,” concluded Skwierczynski.  “Actions by the Joint Select Committee on deficit Reduction to reduce either benefits or administration will not reduce the federal deficit but will continue an inexorable process of eroding the most successful social program in our history.  We urge the committee to oppose reductions in spending below the FY 12 budget request, a level which will preserve the quality of service beneficiaries and workers have come to expect from the Social Security Administration.”

The letter to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction can be found here.

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 625,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

The Social Security Administration recently signed an occupancy agreement that would move employees from two existing field offices in the Seattle area to Seattle’s Jackson Federal Building in spring 2012. 

“The problem is that this Level 4 security building houses high-risk law enforcement and security agencies, so valid federal or state identification is required to gain entry,” explained Steve Kofahl, president of AFGE Local 3937. “Moving the field offices to this building severely impacts the local communities they served and will severely hamper the ability of recipients to have face-to-face service with an SSA representative.  There is no onsite parking, commercial parking in the area is very expensive, and there are very few handicapped parking spaces available around the building.”

The move also violates the GSA/SSA Space Allocation Standard public access criteria, and the Department of Justice Vulnerability Assessment recommendation that high risk and low risk agencies should not be co-located in federal buildings. This advice was issued after the Oklahoma City Murrah Building bombing. 

Community and labor organizations, led by the 35-member Social Security Works Washington Coalition that includes American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3937, are leading a campaign to reverse the decision. Many community leaders have pledged their support and said they are appalled that SSA would deny anyone access to face-to-face service.

“Many individuals needing Social Security services, especially homeless or low-income individuals, lack such identification and thus would not be able to gain entry,” Congressman Jim McDermott said in a June 20 letter to SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue. “Without entry, they might not be served.  This would be unacceptable.”

The Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans’ July issue of the Retiree Advocate criticized the decision, and urged its readers to call and send e-mail messages to Astrue and to SSA regional Commissioner Stanley C. Friendship.

The Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) Executive Board approved an AFGE Local 3937 resolution on August 10, opposing these field office closures and supporting a continuing robust field office structure.  It calls for resisting cuts in SSA administrative funding to achieve deficit reduction, approval of the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2012 to maintain adequate funding and staffing, and legislation to take the agency’s administrative funding off-budget since the Trust Funds that are growing each year and fund operations are themselves off-budget.

“This move to the Jackson Federal building in no way helps the agency serve the public better.  In fact, it severely hampers the ability of Social Security recipients to talk to claims representatives, get their questions answered, and feel at ease with the retirement and disability process.  AFGE and our partners are urging the agency to reverse this decision and to take into consideration what is in the best interests of the American public,” concluded Kofahl.

 The Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, and the offices of Congressman McDermott and Senators’ Cantwell and Murray, have joined Social Security Works Washington representatives in this fight.

AFGE Local 3937 represents approximately 1500 Agency employees in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

WASHINGTON – The American Federation of Government Employees is hailing the closure of the Ironton Social Security Administration in Ironton, OH office due to a dangerous mold infestation; however, the union is questioning why it took two years for the agency to take any substantive action.

“We’ve demanded SSA management close the office for more than two years,” said AFGE Local 3448 President David Sheagley. “The employees were experiencing respiratory problems and headaches among other symptoms because of the repeated exposure to the mold.  Around 100 people are in and out of that office every day – retirees, the disabled – and they were being exposed to black mold. This was a dire public safety issue.”

“Although we are pleased the agency has taken notice and finally shut down the office, it’s a travesty that employees had to suffer through two years of breathing mold-infested air due to inaction by SSA leadership,” said Sheagley. “The mold created an unsafe work environment and put the employees and the public whom they serve at risk.”

 While a new SSA facility is under construction in Ironton, employees are being transferred to Ashland, KY; Huntington, WV; and Portsmouth and Gallipolis, OH Social Security Offices in the interim. In total, thirteen employees are being displaced.

“This is a huge win for the employees of this office.  The mold was not some minor, every day issue.  This was a very unhealthy workplace, which was causing the employees to have health problems. We’d like to thank Senator Sherrod Brown and former Representative Charlie Wilson for their instrumental help in getting this mold-infested office closed and for caring about the health and well-being of SSA employees and the public they serve,” said Sheagley.

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 625,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

AFGE Council 220 President Witold Skwierczynski rallies SSA employees in Baltimore against budget cuts.

With momentum still flowing from the successful March country-wide picket, AFGE Social Security workers held another informational picket at Social Security offices across the country on April 6 to continue their education of the American public as well as local legislators on the devastating impact to the retired and disabled of the potential government shutdown and proposed FY 2011 budget cuts.

House Republicans have proposed a $1.7 billion reduction in SSA funding for the remainder of FY 2011. The budget cuts would lead to a month of furloughs at the Social Security Administration resulting in longer waits for benefits, backlogs of those with pending disability claims and hearings could reach record levels, and waiting times at field offices and busy signals at SSA’s toll free number would increase dramatically. “We are fighting any cut in SSA’s operating budget. Any cuts will have a dire impact on public service, with the greatest impact felt by seniors and people with disabilities,” stated Witold Skwierczynski, president of AFGE Council 220.