On April 28, hundreds of NOW activists and allies gathered around the country to make sure politicians know that women "do not want to work until we drop!" About a dozen actions in various states drove home the message that NOW opposes increasing the retirement age to 69 years -- something that conservatives in Congress are pushing. Activists also protested the proposed dismantling of Medicare and block-granting of Medicaid.
In Winter Garden, Fla., NOW activists participated in a zombie protest outside of Rep. Daniel Webster's (R-Fla.) office. The group included Mary Wilson, Winter Park NOW Treasurer, and other NOW chapter activists with zombie make-up and signs. News reports of the event showed the "walking dead" protesting Webster's support of the House Republican budget, which turns Medicare into a voucher program and limits Medicaid funding for those most vulnerable in society.
Wilson also attended a town hall meeting with the Congress member two days prior. Local news media picked up Wilson's comment to Rep. Webster: "What I see with this is that spending includes unbridled profiteering by the medical industry because with dismantling Medicare you also take away the ability to negotiate prices and keep prices under some kind of bridle. If you took the cap off Social Security or FICA and raised taxes on the wealthy, I know you would have a whole lot of money."
In Santa Fe, N.M., New Mexico NOW State Assistant Coordinator Dana Middleton said: "Even though most of our Santa Fe members are at work at 9 a.m., Becky Langford and I managed to pull it together and head to the event. We always enjoy talking with one of our very favorite elected officials now representing us in Washington; Ben Ray Lujan is young, but he always is supportive of women, especially when it comes to Social Security."
The event was a standard town hall meeting with Rep. Lujan (D-N.M.) and about 20 individuals discussing Social Security, the federal budget and other issues. Lujan is a champion of protecting Social Security.
In West Palm Beach, Fla., 20 activists, including Palm Beach County NOW President Meredith Ockman and North Palm Beach County NOW Co-President Joan Waitkevicz, among other key NOW activists, protested in front of Rep. Allen West's (R-Fla.) office. West, who is from Plantation and represents a district that is heavily populated with retired persons, has been outspoken in promoting the false linkage between Social Security spending and the federal deficit.
Ockman released a statement advising that West's voting record "is dangerous to the health and well-being of women in his district and across the country. We need to have representation that recognizes the important role that Social Security plays in the lives of Americans."
Conservative members of Congress are pressing for increasing the retirement age on the grounds that life expectancy overall has increased. But according to the Congressional Budget Office (2008), life expectancy for women has stagnated, and life expectancy for low-income women has decreased. It is higher-income earning males who have seen their life expectancy extended. Maybe they can work longer, but the rest of us can't.
Millions of older workers cannot continue in their jobs through their late 60s. A substantial number of workers have physically-demanding jobs or stressful working conditions. Nurses, for example, lift more than a ton per day on average. Working into their late 60s will harm older workers, many of whom already have health conditions associated with aging.
Additionally, the job market for workers 55 and older has never been worse according to the U.S. Department of Labor. As a result, many workers have been forced to take early retirement with a serious loss in retirement income. Imagine how much worse off they would be if the "normal" retirement age were 69! The fact is, an increase in the official retirement age will mean a substantial benefit cut. Coupled with other benefit cuts proposed by conservatives in Congress, this shift will drive millions of retirees -- particularly women -- out of the middle class and into poverty.
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