LOCAL 71 UPDATE TO MEMBERS: RETIREMENT / PENSION

The Alaska legislative session is well underway, and our efforts to only endorse and support candidates who said that they would fight for your benefits on the job are paying off.  Yesterday a bill was introduced to fix your retirement. Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel (R- Anchorage) introduced Senate Bill 88: RETIREMENT SYSTEMS; DEFINED BENEFIT OPT  (SB 88), which, if passed, would restore a defined benefit pension for all public employees.

                Links to news articles about this bill: Anchorage Daily News / Alaska Beacon / AP News / Alaska Native News

In a press conference following the bill's introduction, Senate President Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak) reiterated that re-establishing a defined benefit pension to tackle the state's recruitment and retention problems is one of the top priorities for the Senate Majority, and he signed on immediately as a co-sponsor. 

Public Employees Local 71 members and staff are working hard to see this effort through. We pooled our resources with other Alaska public employee unions over the last two years to re-establish the Alaska Public Pension Coalition (AKPPC). Those who attend our General Membership Meetings get updates regularly on those efforts. AKPPC was founded to work with lawmakers, members like you, and the general public to educate everyone on the importance of providing a defined-benefit pension plan for all public employees. The group includes APEA/AFT, Public Employees Local 71, ASEA/AFSCME Local 52, and our newest addition, the Alaska Professional Firefighters Association. We are also grateful for assistance from the Alaska AFL-CIO and the National Public Pension Coalition for their contributions. While representing a diversity of member job classes and priorities, all our public employee groups are united in a shared purpose to pass a pension bill that includes ALL public employees!

AKPPC will be instrumental in ensuring that all of Alaska’s public employees can retire with a pension. Local 71 will work with our AKPPC coalition partners to advance legislation that we know will benefit all of our members.

If you are interested in the fight for pensions for Alaska’s public employees, I strongly encourage you to engage with the AKPPC; 

Facebook, Twitter, and sign-up for their email list so that we can send you information and alerts on our progress.

This legislative session and next, we will need you to contact your lawmakers or get involved in the campaign to offer a defined-benefit pension plan to public employees–something we have not seen since 2006.

In Solidarity,