November 17, 2014

Chadds Ford’s Pat Wells is fighting for retiree benefits. And she’s doing so by taking part in a series of videos for the Association of BellTell Retirees Inc.

“I am very upset about the way the retirees are being treated…It’s supposed to be the golden years, and they are kind of making it the ghoulish years,” Wells said in the video.

Wells began a 42-year career with New York Telephone, a company that eventually became Verizon. She worked in various customer service positions and was a senior specialist in retail markets small business when she retired in 2003.

At that time, she thought she and her fellow retirees would all get everything they had been promised. That, however, hasn’t been the case. The company has taken actions that she calls “a breach of loyalty.”

Wells herself has not been damaged, but thousands of others have. In a telephone interview, she said 41,000 of the company’s management retirees were transferred out of a Verizon retirement plan where there were guaranteed benefit protections — called ERISA protections enforced by the federal Department of Labor — to other companies with other plans where no such protections existed. Another 2,700 Verizon retirees lost their health benefits after their plans were transferred, she said.

It’s not just Verizon. Other companies do the same things, such as taking away health benefits from retirees, said Wells.

“These are things that people were promised during their working years,” she said.

According to Wells, it’s all a matter of finances: “These companies want to divest themselves from their financial obligations.”

Her solution is for stronger laws that protect retiree benefits, especially since many settled for less pay upfront to get those benefits.

“Many people took lower salaries with the promise of getting these other things down the line when they retire,” she said.

Wells added that the Association of BellTell Retirees has formed a sister organization called Protectseniors.org that is open to all retirees from any company. Those groups are activists for retiree rights, she said.

Wells’ full video can be found at here.

Other retirees express their concerns in videos that can be found here.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation  is inviting the public to comment on the state’s draft Long Range Transportation Plan, which will help guide future 12-Year Programs and regional plans, by visiting www.PAOnTrack.com.

“Our Long Range Transportation Plan provides a vision for Pennsylvania’s future by focusing on system preservation, safety, stewardship and personal and freight mobility,” PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch said. “I encourage the public to join us in establishing these goals because our transportation network impacts all of us for generations to come.”

The draft plan, which includes goals, objectives and recommendations based on department research and public input, is viewable by clicking “Draft Long Range Plan” on the home page. Comments can be submitted through the “Comment Here” section under “Public Participation.”

The public comments contributing to the plan were collected from more than 2,500 people who took a survey this spring identifying their top transportation priorities and appeal of various investment scenarios. That feedback, which identified bike and pedestrian facilities, public transportation, new roads or widening and pavement condition as the top public priorities, supplemented PennDOT research to contribute to the draft report.

Feedback will be accepted through Monday, Dec. 15. In addition to online feedback, comments will be accepted by emailing ra-PennDOTLRTP@pa.gov or by mail to PennDOT’s Center for Program Development and Management, c/o Statewide Long-Range Planning, P.O. Box 3365, Harrisburg, Pa., 17105-3365.