Progressive talk radio host Carl Wolfson (photo above left), asks delegates to the 11th annual convention of the Oregon Alliance for Retired Americans to be aware of what is happening around
their community, share that knowledge with others, and remind everyone to vote. Wolfson, along with former Oregon governor Barbara Roberts, were guest speakers at the gathering held March
8 in Portland.
Oregon retirees group stays busy, involved in community
The Oregon Alliance for Retired
Americans (ORARA) held its 11th an-
nual convention March 8 in Portland.
ORARA is a constituency group of the
AFL-CIO. The gathering drew 60 del-
egates.
John O’Brien, ARA regional officer
from Tacoma, Washington, reported
that ARA’s lobbying efforts helped per-
suade President Barack Obama to drop
from his budget a proposal that would
have reduced cost-of-living adjust-
ments (COLAs) for Social Security.
The so-called “chained CPI (Con-
sumer Price Index)” changes the infla-
tion formula used to determine COLAs
in Social Security checks, resulting in
smaller benefit increases than under
the more widely used consumer price
index.
“Chained CPI is nothing but slow
starvation,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien suggested a more accurate
way to calculate Social Security CO-
LAs would be a CPI for the elderly.
CPI-E is an alternate inflation measure
developed by the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics to track consumption among the
elderly. Research has shown that
spending patterns differ between those
65 and older and the general popula-
tion, especially in the health care cate-
gory, where costs have risen much
faster than other categories. The CPI-E
is still in a experimental stage.
ORARA at-large board member Jim
Davis reported success at the just-ended
Oregon Legislature in getting funding
for placing senior and disability mental
health and addiction specialists in all 36
county mental health programs.
Dick Schwarz, a retired executive
director of the American Federation of
Teachers-Oregon, warned retirees of
continuing battles in future elections
PAGE 8
over maintaining the rights of unions to
have a closed shop and being able to
use the dues check-off method of col-
lecting dues and fees. He suggested
having conversations with union oppo-
nents that begin with the question,
“why don’t you support democracy?”
And then proceed to explain the demo-
cratic processes involved in forming
and maintaining unions.
Delegates also heard from former
governor Barbara Roberts and pro-
gressive talk radio host Carl Wolfson.
Roberts, Oregon’s first woman gov-
ernor, shared her life story and — in
observance of International Women’s
Day — encouraged all women leaders
to share their stories so that young
women realize that they can accom-
plish big things, too.
Wolfson said it isn’t tax cuts for the
wealthy that will help America thrive
— “it’s unions that will help us. If you
look at the decline in real wages, right
next to it is the decline in union mem-
bership. It’s a direct relationship. It’s
unions that built the middle class in this
country, and it’s the re-defining of
unions through coalitions that’s going
to save us. It’s the only path we have.”
Wolfson said organized labor and
the Democratic Party have to quit be-
ing so defensive and go on the offense.
“We don’t need to talk about mini-
mum wage — we need to talk about a
thrivable wage. We don’t need to talk
about saving Social Security — we
need to talk about expanding Social Se-
curity, getting rid of that cap so it’s fully
funded for 75 years, expanding bene-
fits, lowering the retirement age, and
moving to single-payer (health care
system). That’s what we ought to be
talking about. Let them defend the
other side of it,” he said.
Wolfson asked delegates to “be
aware of what’s happening, share that
knowledge, and get to the polls and
make sure to vote.”
Convention delegates passed sev-
eral resolutions, including one that
calls on the U.S. Postal Service to pro-
vide basic banking services. They re-
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
solved to promote the Northwest La-
bor Press and do outreach to other sen-
ior organizations (such as Meals on
Wheels) and social groups (like the
Sierra Club) to rally around common
issues. Other resolutions opposed the
agenda of the right-wing American
Legislative Exchange Council
(ALEC), and tuition debt schemes like
‘pay-it-forward.’
ORARA is open to all retirees.
Membership is $10 a year. The group
meets the second Thursday each
month at the Oregon Labor Center,
3645 SE 32nd, Portland. For more in-
formation, call 503-667-8189.
MARCH 21, 2014