Department of Labor Statement Draws Fire From National Retiree Legislative Network
National Retiree Legislative Network challenges Department of Labor Secretary on her Assistant's statement that the DOL no longer represents "retirees."
Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 14, 2004
Officials of the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) have sent a letter to U. S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao regarding a Department of Labor (DOL) spokeswoman’s comment that retirees “aren’t our constituents anymore.” That statement appeared in the Nov. 10, 2004 issue of The Wall Street Journal.
“To discover that the Department of Labor disavows any jurisdiction over issues relating to retirees is simply astounding,” NRLN president Jim Norby wrote in the letter Secretary Chao.
Norby explained that the DOL’s jurisdiction is clearly outlined in its published mission statement that reads: “The Department of Labor fosters and promotes the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits…”
“Unless the Department’s Mission Statement has changed, I am assuming that the unnamed spokesperson was shamefully wrong in making the statement. That leaves me very concerned about the culture at the Department of Labor, as it reflects a total disinterest and ignorance of the welfare of retirees and its very role in protecting that constituency,” Norby wrote.
Citing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) responsibilities that reside in the DOL, Norby emphasized, “These protections extend equally to workers and retirees, to participants and to beneficiaries. The notion that DOL won't enforce ERISA to protect retirees is utterly wrong.”
Norby noted that previous letters and communications from the NRLN to Secretary Chao have gone unanswered. “Instead of being an advocate for our issues, the DOL has taken a laissez-faire attitude when it comes to finding solutions that will protect the pensions of some 45 million current and future retirees. This head in the sand approach to our concerns won’t make them go away,” Norby added.
The NRLN is a grassroots, non-partisan coalition of retiree organizations dedicated to protecting the pension plans and retirement benefits of their members. Based in Washington, D. C., NRLN represents nearly 2 million retirees from Association of US WEST Retirees, Association of BellTel Retirees, Lucent Retirees, Association of Prudential Retirees, Monsanto Retirees Association, Association of Raytheon Retirees, Aetna Retirees Association, along with groups from Boeing, GE, GM, IBM, Johns Manville, AT&T, Portland Electric (Enron), DamlerChrysler, Delta, SNET and others. Visit the NRLN Web site at www. nrln. org for more details.
A. J. (Jim) Norby
Phone: 760-200-9867
Email: anorbz@aol. com
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