On December 21, 2024, the U.S. Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provisions of the Social Security law – which both unfairly penalize thousands of public sector retirees in Massachusetts, including school teachers.
“No one who pays into the Social Security system should see the benefits they’ve earned cut or eliminated – especially those who dedicated their careers to public service,” said American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts President Jessica Tang. “In addition to fair wages, reasonable benefits and safe working conditions, everyone deserves a secure and dignified retirement and we are pleased to say that after years of advocacy, our collective efforts paid off to ensure all workers have access to these benefits.”
Currently, the WEP slashes or eliminates Social Security benefits public sector workers earned through second jobs or during other points in their careers. In Massachusetts, this provision impacts nearly 93,000 Social Security beneficiaries including retirees, disabled workers, and spouses/children. Changes to the WEP would impact approximately 2 million Social Security beneficiaries across the country.
Meanwhile, the GPO affects the spousal benefits of nearly 800,000 retirees who worked as federal, state, or local government employees — including teachers — if the job is not covered by Social Security. The GPO cuts the Social Security benefits received by surviving spouses by two-thirds if they also collect a government pension – in many cases, offsetting their benefits entirely. In Massachusetts, over 42,000 Social Security beneficiaries are affected by the GPO. Nearly 29,000 beneficiaries in Massachusetts have their benefits completely offset.
“Both of these provisions disproportionately impact low-income retirees - including tens of thousands in Massachusetts alone. It's set up so public school teachers and paraprofessionals end up being penalized for working a second or third job in the private sector, which many have to do to get by,” said AFT Massachusetts Secretary Treasurer Brant Duncan. “On top of that, these provisions disenfranchise many from becoming educators as a second career – undoubtedly contributing to the national teacher shortage we’re facing.”
The bill passed by a vote of 76 to 20 a little over a week after unions from across the nation, including the AFT Massachusetts rallied in Washington D.C. to urge the Senate to act before the end of the year.
Secretary-Treasurer Duncan along with President Tang were at the December 11 rally with International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) General President Edward Kelly, a third-generation Boston firefighter and representatives from multiple unions, including: the AFL-CIO; AFT; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSME); National Education Association (NEA); Service Employees International Union (SEIU); National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFEA); Fraternal Order of Police (FOP); American Postal Workers Union (APWU); and more.
The rally featured Congressional sponsors of the bill – Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and Representative Garrett Graves (R-LA) – and remarks from leaders on the issue, including Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and AFT President Randi Weingarten.
The bill now heads to President Joe Biden, the strongest pro-labor president this nation has ever seen, for his signature.