In early 2024, your Association of BellTel Retirees asked our members’ opinions on multiple key issues, to better keep our finger on the pulse of what is most important to our community.
We are proud to say that in just days, we received over 1,000 responses with feedback that will be instrumental to strategies we deploy in 2024 and beyond.
Nearly 65% responded that pension de-risking is one of the main issues on their minds. Second to that, at 64%, is the concern about the affordability of healthcare premiums for members and their spouses.
The Association has always been a leading defender of retirees against the ravages of pension de-risking, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to helping our members, retirees and still-active employees in the issues that affect them.
The advocacy efforts members identified as being most important to them include: maintaining ongoing communication with regulators and government leaders (48.3%), and continuing our corporate governance campaigns at Verizon (46.2%).
Nearly 61% of respondents are shareholders in Verizon, AT&T, or other leading publicly traded TeleCom firms.
“It’s critical for our organization to keep an open dialogue between our board and the members, as well as maintain our equally-essential communications with top company leaders to address members concerns,” said Thomas Steed, Association of BellTel Retirees Chairman. “The Association of BellTel Retirees remains dedicated to advocating strongly for the issues that matter most to our members.”
Almost 81% of respondents told us that they are concerned about the reliability and stability of group annuity life insurers and private equity firms now managing over $300 billion in de-risked retiree pension assets.
The majority of BellTel members advise that they still have their company-provided life insurance, with only 16.5% saying they no longer have such a policy.
Many of you informed us that you first learned about the Association through our BellTel Newsletter. Twenty percent say that a friend made the introduction.
This reinforces the critical importance of word-of-mouth recruitment to our great retiree Association, because no recommendation is more important than that of a trusted friend.
We are also proud to say that 87% of you rate the Association 4 or 5 out of 5 in how very satisfied you are with the organization and how its volunteer leadership continually advocates for the economic protections of current and future retirees.
At the same time, only 67.7% of respondents stated they are annual contributors of the Association. Without your support and generosity, this non-profit cannot meet the needs of its members.
Let’s all do more to make that 100% contributors.
One member surveyed said, “Please don’t go away. You are my only contact regarding my pension. I am most gracious for you being there throughout the years. Thank you.”
We thank the many who took part in this successful online survey. Your participation was incredibly insightful, and your volunteer board appreciates every comment and insights shared by our members.
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