We need a union voice on the ERS Board of Trustees
VOTE FOR NEIKA CLARK!
TSEU has run a candidate in every ERS Board election since 1989 and this time around will be no different. After having gone through our screening committee, the TSEU Executive Board has recommended Neika Clark to be our candidate. This choice has been officially ratified by the elected delegates of the General Assembly (Sept. 19, 2020).
Neika Clark’s ERS platform:
- Keeping our ERS funds strong!
Neika will push for increased state contributions to our health care plans and pension fund and support continued responsible investing to strengthen our pension fund. - Fighting for what we deserve!
She will oppose any attempts to convert our pension plan to a 401(k) style plan and the new high-deductible, consumer-driven health plans that undermine our benefits. - A Cost of living raise for retirees!
Neika believes state employees should retire with dignity. That means
cost of living increases that keep up with the rising cost of living. ERS retirees have not seen a COLA since 2001. That’s way too long! - Listening to the needs of workers!
Accessible to assist any employee with health care and/or pension issues, Neika will be the voice of front-line state employees on the Board.)
MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON!
DID YOU KNOW???
WHAT DOES THE ERS BOARD DO AND HOW ARE THEY ELECTED:
- ERS, or the Employees Retirement System, controls the pension plan for about 146,000 agency employees and about 104,000 retirees. It also runs the health care plan for all employees, dependents, and retirees of state agencies and of the universities outside the UT and A&M systems. The ERS Board makes the final decisions in the operation of these plans. It is made up of six members: three are elected directly by active employees and retirees. One of these positions comes up for election every other year. The other three positions are appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the Texas House, and the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
THE BOARD NEEDS FRONT-LINE REPRESENTATION:
- Over the seventy-year history of these systems, most trustees have been high-ranking officials or upper management. It makes a difference when front-line state employees bring their experience and perspective to these boards, and TSEU has worked since 1989 to elect trustees who will stand up for front-line employees.
GET INVOLVED IN THE ERS 2021 ELECTION:
- After the successful election in 2015 of long-time TSEU activist Ilesa Daniels (now the Board Chair) to the ERS Board, we now have the sad task of replacing her after six productive years of service. We are calling on all frontline state workers to step up and help with a win in the 2021 election. We have the power in our numbers and influence among co-workers at our jobs; our union turned out the vote in 2015 for Ilesa, and we can do it again!
As legislators increasingly target state employee benefits in plans to slash spending, we need ERS Board members who are willing to stand up to the politicians and demand adequate funding, not cuts, for our pension and health care plans.