Keynote speakers include:

• John Rowley Sr., Business Manager, IBEW Local 2324, which commissioned an investigation by New York University & Boston College scientists of lead toxicity that impacts workers’ and our fellow retirees’ health and safety.
• Attorney Edward Stone, Executive Director of Retirees for Justice and legal counsel for fellow retirees in several important corporate pension spinoff lawsuits. Mr. Stone is fighting to protect retirees’ earned pension benefits from the unknown investment risks when our pension assets are offloaded by former corporate employers.

You may listen using your computer, iPad, smartphone or Smart TV via Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

You can also watch the meeting video on our YouTube channel!

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Joining us to speak about this very issue is Edward Stone, BellTel’s Special Legal Counsel and the Executive Director of Retirees for Justice!

Stone joins us to discuss the failure of a major regional insurance company that recently filed for liquidation. He walks us through what policy and annuity holders should expect, what caused the issues in the first place, and what retirees and policyholders from other insurers should keep in mind moving forward.

You may listen using your computer, iPad, smartphone or Smart TV via Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

The post “The Bell Effect” Podcast, Episode 39: When Big Insurers Fail appeared first on Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc..

On this episode of “The Bell Effect,” we are joined by Una Kelly, one of the first women in New York City to work in electronic switching.

The post “The Bell Effect” Podcast, Episode 38: How to Fight the Corporate Erosion of Earned Benefits appeared first on Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc..

The post BellTel’s Winter 2025 Newsletter appeared first on Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc..

Dear honored members, retirees & active employees,

Giving Tuesday began in 2012 as a simple idea: a global day dedicated to giving back. It takes place annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, part of a Season of Giving dedicated to generosity, kindness, and gratitude.

For retirees and active employees and their families, Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to strengthen organizations that work tirelessly to protect rights, preserve dignity, and secure the futures that they earned.

We anticipate that our members will make a donation to the Association of BellTel Retirees during the 2025 season of giving. Your support is critical: our work to defend the pensions, healthcare, and benefits to retirees cannot continue without financial contributions from members like you.

Corporate obligations are only as strong as our ability to hold companies accountable, and that requires resources. Every gift, no matter the size, empowers the Association to fight for your rights and ensure that the commitments made to you are honored. Please join us on or even in the weeks that follow Giving Tuesday to stand up for what you have earned and deserve!

Know that your board of directors at the Association understands and shares your same burden of increasing costs: energy, insurance, rent, etc. In fact, our current donations are lagging by 19% compared to this same time last year. In response, your board has reduced expenses where reasonable to do so without compromising our mission or service to you, our valued members.

Our mission is simple: to protect the benefits you’ve earned. We fight on your behalf through proxy proposals, annual letters requesting COLA adjustments, and legislative efforts against pension stripping. But our work goes far beyond advocacy.

We keep you informed with a quarterly newsletter and timely updates through print, social media, and our hotline. Every year, we answer hundreds of calls from retirees needing help with healthcare benefits, death benefits, pension concerns, or simply knowing who to contact when issues arise.

Our office is your go-to resource—backed by a dedicated board and staff who work tirelessly for you. But this support only continues with your help. Don’t let it disappear—donate today and ensure we can keep fighting for you.

We know that our members will respond generously because you understand that your donations enable a vital and powerful Association.

With that in mind, we have set a challenging, but surely reachable, $75K goal for our 2025 Giving Tuesday campaign. You can depend on your board of directors to donate generously!

For those who are able and have already been donating, we thank you. I hope you are able to be generous again this year. For those who have not donated in a while, we really would appreciate your generosity now!

How You Can Help:

·      Donate: Visit our donation page on our website to contribute. Every contribution, no matter the size, helps us in our mission to protect you.

·      Stay Informed: Read our newsletters and social media pages to see the impact of our efforts.

·      Spread the Word: Encourage fellow retirees, current employees, and friends to support our cause.

In addition to your typical generous donation, consider your Association during your current and future planned giving. This includes estate planning, your annual required minimum distribution (RMD) to a qualified charitable distribution (QCD), and adding the Association as a beneficiary. We recommend you seek advice from your financial or legal advisor on planned giving. You should also discuss “use and purpose” when naming the Association as a beneficiary.

Not everyone wants to commit to making a gift in their wills or estates. Some prefer the increased flexibility that a beneficiary designation provides by using: IRAs and retirement plans; Life insurance policies; Bank Accounts; Certificate of Deposit (CDs); Brokerage Accounts.

It is very simple to name the Association as a beneficiary. Start by requesting a change-of-beneficiary form from your policy administrator or download the form from your provider’s website. Make your desired changes and return the form to establish your gift.

Qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a mutually beneficial way to donate. Not only does it count toward required minimum distribution (RMD), but the distribution is completely tax-free. That means you can still take the standard deduction on your taxes instead of itemizing to get the charitable contribution deduction.

The IRS reminds those aged 73 and older to make required withdrawals from IRAs and retirement plans by Dec. 31. We recommend you seek advice from your financial or legal advisor.

We are better and stronger together in solidarity!

Una Kelly, Treasurer and Laura Whitlock, Director

The post Giving Season 2025: Help Us Hit Our Goal! appeared first on Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc..

Schulman previously served as CEO of PayPal from 2015 to 2023 and was the founding CEO of Virgin Mobile USA, a joint venture between Britain’s Virgin Group and Sprint, helping to build a prepaid cellphone business. Schulman also spent 18 years working his way up at AT&T, where he eventually became President of Consumer Division.

Schulman replaces Hans Vestberg, who had led the company since 2018.

Verizon said Vestberg will remain on the board of directors until the 2026 annual meeting and will serve as a special advisor through Oct. 4, 2026, to ensure a smooth transition and close the deal to acquire Frontier Communications.

Verizon also announced that Mark Bertolini, the chief executive of Oscar Health and former chief executive of health-insurance company Aetna, would be chairman of the company’s board of directors.

“The Board is thrilled to have Dan as Verizon’s next CEO, and embark on a new chapter of growth and sector leadership,” Bertolini said. “Dan is a seasoned and decisive leader with a unique set of experiences, and a proven record of transformative leadership and operational excellence. He is the right leader to chart Verizon’s next phase of increased customer focus and financial growth.”

Bertolini continued, “Hans Vestberg has been an extraordinary leader for Verizon, leading a new era of network investment and creating an innovative culture. Our company is better for his passion and vision. Having created a network that is unmatched and with the upcoming close of the Frontier transaction, the Board and Hans discussed that now is the right time for a CEO transition. On behalf of the entire Board, we thank Hans for his outstanding service to all of Verizon’s stakeholders.”

At PayPal, Schulman grew the company’s revenue from $8 billion to $30 billion, according to the announcement, and added “hundreds of millions” of new customers for the global payments platform. He has served on Verizon’s board of directors since 2018.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon is making the leadership change as it faces stiff competition from rivals for home internet as well as wireless customers. In July, the company increased its earnings forecast for the year but said it lost lucrative postpaid phone customers for the second consecutive quarter.

Morgan Stanley analysts said that month that while the company’s forecast was encouraging, its shares traded at a discount to many of its peers, “reflecting a more tepid growth outlook” and that the year appeared to be “more challenging than initially thought.”

Verizon earlier this year froze rates for a swath of its customers for three years in a bid to hold on to cellphone users irked by years of price rises. Those moves had bolstered the company’s revenue by raising monthly rates and fees but frustrated some customers.

“I believe in Verizon and its future, and I am honored to be chosen to serve as CEO,” Schulman said. “Verizon is at a critical juncture. We have a clear opportunity to redefine our trajectory, by growing our market share across all segments of the market, while delivering meaningful growth in our key financial metrics. We are going to maximize our value propositions, reduce our cost to serve, and optimize our capital allocation to delight our customers, and deliver sustainable long-term growth for our shareholders. I want to thank Hans for his remarkable leadership and all he has contributed to Verizon. I deeply appreciate his friendship and support in this transition. I look forward to working with our employees, our regulators, our partners, and the Board to do the hard work it takes to regain our leadership in our sector across mobility and broadband.”

Vestberg said: “Over the last eight years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the most talented and dedicated people in the industry, and together we’ve built a network that truly connects people to what matters most. As the Board and I discussed, with the pending acquisition of Frontier, it is a good time to pass the baton to Dan. I do this with immense pride and deep gratitude. Verizon’s future is in excellent hands, and I’ll be cheering the team on every step of the way.”

The post Verizon Announces New CEO appeared first on Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc..

Our latest episode of “The Bell Effect” podcast introduces you to Laura Whitlock, who has become an active and dynamic volunteer with the Association of BellTel Retirees, serving as a board director of our Association for the past two years and counting.

Laura speaks about the rich history of the Pioneers as well as why retirees in the telecommunications community may want to support the Association with a qualified charitable distribution — an action that benefits both the retiree and the organization.

These episodes can be heard via computer, iPad, your smartphone and on many smart TV sets on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

CLICK HERE to listen on Apple Podcasts.

Or CLICK HERE to listen on Spotify.

The post “The Bell Effect” Podcast, Episode 37: How Retirees Can Band Together appeared first on Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc..

In our latest episode, we hear from your Association’s leaders about the fallout from Verizon’s massive 2024 pension risk transfer deal, a $5.9 billion transaction that offloaded the pensions of 56,000 retirees to Prudential Insurance Co. of America and Reinsurance Group of America Inc.

First, Board Secretary Don Kaufmann provides a brief refresher course on the issue, followed by legal analysis from Edward Stone, General Counsel of the Association of BellTel Retirees. We will learn about who was affected by this pension-stripping deal, the questionable motives of the corporate players involved, and where things currently stand with litigation against Verizon and its partner in the deal, State Street Global Advisors.

These episodes can be heard via computer, iPad, your smartphone, and on many smart TV sets on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

CLICK HERE to listen on Apple Podcasts.

Or CLICK HERE to listen on Spotify.

The post Rebooting Our Podcast “The Bell Effect,” Episode 36: The Fallout from Verizon’s 2024 Pension Deal appeared first on Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc..