AT&T Retirees Join Together to Protect Pensions

Last week, more than 1,000 AT&T retirees joined CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. for an online town hall to discuss efforts to protect their pensions after the recent AT&T-Athene pension stripping transaction. AT&T has transferred pension benefits covering over 96,000 retirees and beneficiaries from the AT&T Pension Plan to a life insurance company called Athene Holding, Ltd.

“Protecting retirement security has always been one of the most important priorities for CWA and our members, and we are working to find new, innovative ways to empower retirees to stand up and fight to protect their hard-earned benefits,” said President Cummings. “The struggle for workers to enjoy a secure retirement with dignity is ongoing, and I'm proud that CWA has been able to establish a coalition of experts and retiree activists who can work together to fight for justice for our retirees.”

Retirees heard from Eddie Stone, the Executive Director and general counsel of Retirees for Justice, a practicing lawyer who has been working for years with retiree groups to challenge the offloading of pensions by big corporations and advocate for protections for retirees. Stone is currently representing AT&T retirees in the class action complaint they have brought against the Athene transaction.

Teresa Gilarduci, a professor of Economics and Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research, explained to retirees how AT&T’s transaction with Athene is only the most recent example of the erosion of retirement security for workers. These experts are working with CWA and AT&T retirees to find new ways to fight back against corporate greed and protect hard-earned pensions.

If you’d like to stay informed on the AT&T-Athene transaction and the class action complaint filed by CWA retirees, please fill out this survey and provide your contact information.

If you are not sure if you were affected by the AT&T-Athene pension stripping transaction, AT&T advises retirees to call the Fidelity Service Center at 800-416-2363 to confirm their status. For more information, a recording of the webinar is available here.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.