IFPTE Applauds Signing and Enactment of Social Security Fairness Act, Allowing Public Service Retirees and Workers to Receive Retirement Benefits They Have Paid Into
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC – The executive officers of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) issued the following statement applauding President Biden, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), former Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and former Representatives Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) on the passage and enactment of the Social Security Fairness Act. This legislation repeals the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). IFPTE leadership and staff attended the White House signing ceremony for the bill and offered the following statements.
IFPTE President Matthew Biggs:
“IFPTE was honored to be present at the White House this past weekend for the enactment of the Social Security Fairness Act, which is a tremendous win for some 2.8 million retirees and 6 million federal and public sector workers who have been unfairly denied retirement and survivor benefits they have contributed towards. We applaud President Biden, Senator Susan Collins, former Senator Sherrod Brown, and former Representatives Garrett Graves and Abigail Spanberger for their bipartisan efforts to correct this injustice. IFPTE also thanks former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for making this bill a priority by fast-tracking to the Senate floor during the waning days of the 118th Congress. Ultimately, this achievement belongs to the active and retired IFPTE members and the tens of thousands of federal, state, and local government workers and retirees who kept this fight going and built overwhelming bipartisan support for restoring benefits that they should never have been denied in the first place.”
IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson:
“With the signing of the Social Security Fairness Act, millions of retirees and workers who have committed to serving the public will now have their Social Security benefits restored due to the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act. These are retirees and workers who have worked in school systems, maintained public infrastructure, provided critical government services, and kept our communities safe. This law addresses the fundamental unfairness of denying them benefits they have paid into, and we will work to make sure it is implemented quickly and fully. We thank President Biden and the bipartisan support that came together to move this bill across the finish line, and we congratulate the public service workers and retirees whose tireless advocacy carried the day.”
IFPTE is a labor union representing upwards of 90,000 workers in the federal, public, and private sectors.
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