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We stand on the shoulders of giants

As PEF retirees, we are all beneficiaries of those in the labor movement, both past and present.

Their dedication and sacrifices to ensure the well-being that working-class people enjoy today should never be forgotten.

A livable wage, health insurance protections, safe working conditions, collective-bargaining rights and many other labor-law protections enrich us all.

Now, many of these rights and benefits are being diminished or attacked. There is a continual effort to dismantle Social Security — the foundation of America’s retirement security; a program that has not missed a payment in 70 years.

We are also warned of a crisis in health care, that our health care system is broken and must be fixed. It is outrageous that 46 million people in the U.S. are without health care coverage, and included in that figure are 9 million children.

Our prodigious national debt will be a burden for many future generations, while guaranteed pensions will become a thing of the past if those who push for defined contributions succeed.

We are told unions get in the way of institutional unfairness. Do we believe our unions have performed a critical role in protecting working class people in this country? And if we do believe, why do we remain inactive while our unionized work force has declined to almost single-figure percentages over the past several decades?

What legacy do we leave for those who will come after us? What will future generations say about us? What good is it if we are frustrated, unhappy, upset or angry with the current state of affairs, but do not work for change? Years from now, will we be disappointed in the things we didn’t do?

How do we honor those who paid with their labor, blood and treasure for our rights and benefits?

Become involved in PEF as a retiree or working active member. Let us not squander what others, on whose shoulders we stand, worked so hard to achieve for all of us.