On Saturday, May 2nd, 2020, 36 Texas State Employees Union ROC members took part in the State Caucus held online and on conference call. Here’s a quick recap of our meeting:
Will Rogers gave a thorough report on the latest update on the future of the Employee Retirement System (ERS). With an understanding that on May 20th, the ERS Board may attempt to lower the expected rate of return from 7.5% to 7 (or even lower). The discussion centered on what this might mean for a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), the retirement funds of present and future employees, how funds are invested, and other topics (more information and Call To Action is on the TSEU website).
The ROC/ERS Mobilization centered on contacting the ERS Board before May 20th to express concerns by email to each Board member. ROC attendees expressed a desire to call their fellow members in their area, dividing up lists and making calls to encourage participation. A suggestion for the Political Director was to also notify the Finance Committee with each email. We are currently checking to see if the ERS meeting on the 20th will be streamed online and/or if public participation might be allowed.
Artur Valdez gave an update on the upcoming special election as well as primary run-offs and the general election in November. TSEU has a major stake in these races, Arthur and participants looked for was that we, as retirees, might participate; most notably, phone banking for our endorsed candidates.
TSEU’s response to the Coronavirus Pandemic has been extensive and thorough, as TSEU President Judy Lugo explained. Organizing during this time is going to be challenging, but members seemed up to the task. Organizing suggestions included: contacting former co-workers and others that we know have retired from the state, calling people who have left the union to determine if they’re retired and discuss ROC with them, posting invitations to join on social media, and attaining a list of state employees who’ve retired in the last year and contacting them about joining ROC.
Barbara Fetonte led the discussion concerning the TSEU General Assembly (GA): what it is, why we do it and how we can learn from each other by meeting fellow activists throughout Texas. She also detailed delegate elections, choosing our ERS Board of Trustees candidate, and developing strategic plans for agencies and regions; AND how General Assembly is the start to our legislative work, culminating with our Lobby Day march and rally. While there was some concern about holding the General Assembly online, members knew that if it isn’t safe to ask people to travel to Austin, we’ll need to come up with an alternative. Members were dedicated to attending our assembly, taking part in elections, and getting the word out among their own TSEU communities.
We discussed the Texas Association of Retired Americans (TARA) effort/petition to insure mail-in voting occurs in Texas. Members were encouraged to sign the petition by TARA and ROC member Tony Padilla. The date for the next TSEU ROC Caucus is tentatively set for Saturday, September 15th at 2:00 pm, location/venue to be determined, but will most likely occur online/conference call.
