Retired teachers rally for increased pensions
HARRISBURG – Ever since Angelo Cupani retired as a public school teacher in 1998, he’s been living off a pension provided by the state. While prices for virtually everything have gone up, his pension has remained the same, and increasingly it’s becoming more difficult to make ends meet, he says.
So, with signs demanding a cost-of-living increase, he and busloads of other state and public school retirees from across Pennsylvania went to the state Capitol on Tuesday to do something about it.
“It’s worse for the ones who retired long ago, because they don’t have a high pension to begin with,” said Cupani of Beaver County.
An estimated 8,000 state and public school retirees, including several from Fayette County, rallied for more pension money.
Retirees – including teachers, clerks, police and janitors – haven’t received a cost-of-living increase in their state pension since 1998.
Exactly one year ago, legislators enacted substantial pension increases for themselves and for public employees who retired after July 1, 2001. Under Act 9, public employees got a 25 percent increase and lawmakers received a 50 percent raise. Retirees who were excluded from the increases protested the disparity, and two weeks ago the Legislature gave them a 25 percent pension increase.
But some say large pension disparities between recent and older retirees remain and must be corrected.
“A 25 percent increase for individuals retiring after 30 years of service with a final average salary of $50,000 gets new retirees a pension increase of $7,500,” Elma Walton, a retired school nurse from Berks County, told the crowd at the rally.
“Compare this to the 25 percent added to the average pension amount of $10,000 for those who retired in 1980. The long-term retirees will receive an additional $2,500 to live on. Has equity been restored to this group? Just look at the numbers.”
William Zinck, 67, of North Union Township agreed.
“We think that the Legislature treated us very unfairly with Act 9,” said the retired Uniontown Area High School teacher.
“And the legislation they just passed doesn’t meet the needs of older retirees. We’re here to protest that we need more money and we need it now.”
Retirees say the state could afford to be much more generous. The pension fund has a $16 billion surplus, according to the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees, which has about 41,000 members and sponsored Tuesday’s rally.
“Our funds are good and the money is there to do it,” said Len Waitkus, a retired school teacher from Beaver County. “There’s plenty of money in there to make the adjustment.”