Teeters Tidbits
Local 730, U.A.W. Retiree Chapter
By Harold Teeter, Trustee
Hi,
Here I am again. Hope you all enjoyed your holidays. Winter is here and time to
get the skis and shovel out, and learn how to drive in the white stuff. Even
though our Chapter Chairman has gone south for the winter, we will still be
holding our meeting at the same time and place. Glen Robinson, our Vice Chair,
will be in charge and I think he will handle it well.
Social Security Update
The new congress is now working on new legislation that is on deck for this
session. One of the top items is Bush's plan to privatize social security. The
debate will be over social security's future. President Bush's Social Security
Commission Plan 2 would:
* Allow workers to divert 4% of their 12.4% payroll tax, (up to a $1000 per
year), into a Personal Investment Account.
* Raise initial benefits with the Consumer Price Index. (Not the raise of wages
that now sets benefit levels.)
* Cut guaranteed benefits further by the amount contributed to the Personal
Accounts.
I can't see how he plans on bolstering the Social Security Program for anyone by
taking 4% off the top. And, how will it be invested? We have to call or write
our legislators at the following addresses and phone numbers:
U.S. Senators
Carl Levin
110 Michigan NW
Suite 720
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: 1(616) 456-2531
Debbie Stabenow
3230 Broadmoor SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
Phone: 1(616) 975-0052
U.S. Representatives
Vern Ehlers
110 Michigan NW
Suite 166
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: 1(616) 451-8383
Pete Hoekstra
184 S. River Ave
Holland, MI
Phone: 1(616) 395-0030
Fred Upton
157 S Kalamazoo Mall
Kalamazoo, MI 49007-4814
Phone: 1(269) 385-0039
David Camp
121 E Front Street
Suite 202
Traverse City, MI 49684
Phone: 1(231) 929-4711
Ask them not to mess with our social security.
The trustees currently put the date of trust fund exhaustion at 2042. If the
congress would pay back some of the funds they have borrowed over the years to
balance the budget, things would look a lot better.
News Flash
Stu Wilson will be retiring April 1, 2005. He has been our Benefit Rep for many
years. He plans on attending our regular monthly meeting scheduled for Thursday,
March 31. Hope to see all of you there so we can wish him our best as he heads
into retirement.
Next Retiree Meeting - February 24
Our next meeting will be held Thursday, February 24 at twelve o'clock noon at
the union hall. We will have coffee and donuts for you, along with a lot of good
information.
Election of Executive Board Officers
Again, I would like to remind folks who may be south for the winter, that we
plan on holding elections for our Retirees' Executive Board Officers in May. I
hope you will be back in time for this important meeting.
UAW Local 730 would like to extend their deepest sympathy and condolences to the
families and friends of our departed members.
12-17-04 Delorma Hackett
12-21-04 Gary Ward
Congratulations to the following who retired January 1, 2005:
William Brown Phillip Furlong
Douglas Glover Earl Goodman
Robert Heckema Dale Kelly
Darwin Kelley Oris Price
James Stump Richard VanArnam