By Jack Cohen, Chairman
Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc.
Sure, “Divestiture” broke up the original AT&T effective January 1, 1984 into “Baby Bells.” But, does this have to continue into retirement? Where is it written that the family can’t reassemble in retirement?
At a recent board meeting of the Association of BellTel Retirees, as we were discussing the Lucent Retiree Organization (LRO), one of our own BellTel board members, who retired from Lucent, contemplated about what’s to happen for those members once that retiree organization vanishes.
He would be the first to tell you that he had felt that the Association of BellTel Retirees Inc., with all of our resources were positioned best to advocate for not only all of “Ma Bell’s” children, but in fact all retirees in the private sector.
The obvious was staring us right in the face. Why couldn’t we put back together that which Judge Harold H. Greene hath disassembled? We already call ourselves “BellTel Retirees.” We wouldn’t even have to change the name.
The Association was started in 1996, by seven management retirees of what was then called NYNEX. The original seven came from the old New York Telephone Company.
The motivation was the absence of COLA for retirees since 1991. From that original seven grew a group of national size including retirees from all the Regional Bell Operating Companies. We have members all over the nation and overseas.
Almost half of our members came from the crafts and half of our board as well. We even have a handful from AT&T, who are with us for the same reason motivating our board member from Lucent.
Around the same time frame other retiree organizations were formed to represent
The retirees of other “Ma Bell”/Telco companies and also to protect their hard earned retirement benefits
Earlier in 2018, we had a small “Mini-Meeting” for some members, in lower Manhattan. There was one retiree from AT&T and another from Lucent. Invariably, they show up at similar meetings in other localities. In February, we will be having a meeting in Sarasota and another in Vero Beach Florida. We welcome our cousins.
We never closed our doors to those who are not from the dozens of companies currently making up today’s Verizon. In fact many of them maintain dual membership in their retiree groups as well as BellTel. A few have become quite active in BellTel.
The issue: What can we do for non-Verizon retirees? All our current machinery works for Verizon retirees.
We have our Association of BellTel Retirees lawyers doing our successful Proxy Proposal campaign annually; and work on our De-Risking issues and other legislative initiatives.
We pursued litigation in two cases to defend retirees, which rose all the way up to the steps of the United States Supreme Court. We have an effective and ongoing Public Relations operation behind us to get our message out. We also have the liaison to the senior management of Verizon and the benefits office for appeal cases.
That doesn’t mean we can’t build the machinery to branch out in similar directions with our cousins. We are all part of the same family. While there may be geographical separation, cultural issues and differing benefits to protect, these issues have no jurisdiction over us in retirement.
At one time, while assembled as a mighty workforce, we were a great and powerful force. As retirees, we can do that again. All we need is the motivation and your decision to take action and support the Association by being an active, vibrant part of it.
We are calling out to our cousins! All we need is for all of us to come back to the family. This idea will never take flight unless you join the Association of BellTel Retirees and become a participating member. That means that you participate in our efforts as well as support our efforts financially. I want our retired cousins from AT&T, old Western Electric, Bell Labs retirees, the “Baby Bells,” Lucent and any other company that once was or grew out of what was without a doubt the greatest company on earth. Our roots are still there!
I want some key energetic retirees from those companies to apply to be members of our board of directors. We would welcome those who were managers in Human Resources to help us learn the retirement plans so we can help all of our retirees. We have the structure in place to initiate Proxy Proposals and we can setup the machinery for direct lines to senior management. We can do this. But we can’t do it alone.
If you want to learn more about us and you have a computer within reach please access our website: https://belltelretirees.org/. At the top of the lead page are some pull-down menus. Click on NEWS and you can download and read our latest newsletter. You will learn of the locations of our localized “Mini-Meetings,” and you are invited to RSVP and attend. Click on JOIN US and you will find an application.
It makes sense. Help us get the family back together.
Jack K Cohen
Chairman
Association of BellTel Retirees Inc.
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