Maine AFL-CIO President Speaks at Social Security 89th Birthday Celebration in Lewiston

PHOTO: Maine AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney speaks at Social Security event in Lewiston.

Maine AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney spoke at an 89th Birthday Celebration for Social Security in Lewiston that was co-sponsored by the Harris/Walz campaign. On August, 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, creating a social insurance program designed to pay retired workers age 65 or older a steady income after retirement.

As President FDR stated upon signing the bill, “We can never insure one hundred percent of the population against one hundred percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.”
 

The act also provided unemployment insurance, old-age assistance, aid to dependent child and more.

“To have good work, with family sustaining wages and benefits – and to have the ability to retire with dignity is all part of the American Dream. Social Security has brought that dream closer for so many more people in this country,” said Phinney at the August 14 event.

The first comprehensive form of social security in the United States was passed in the aftermath of the Civil War when a relatively generous pension system was created to support hundreds of thousands of widows, orphans, and disabled veterans. Early unions also developed funds to support the widows of fellow workers and those who couldn’t work anymore. In the late 1800s, some large businesses began offering company pensions, but they only covered a small number of workers.

When the Great Depression hit, elder poverty skyrocketed and over half of the elderly in America lacked sufficient income to support themselves, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). While program was not as robust as some of its advocates would have liked, it continues to keep about 30 million people out of poverty, according to the SSA. Since its passage, benefits for retiree spouses and children as well as disability benefits have been added to the program.

As Phinney noted,nearly half of all workers have no access to a retirement plan, so they rely on Social Security to get by.

“ As many companies eliminated defined benefit pensions, 401(k)s took off quickly and now outnumber defined benefit pensions among private-sector workers by a factor of nearly eight to one,” said Phinney. “Though modest, the value of Social Security benefits exceeds the value of savings in these defined contribution plans for all but the wealthiest Americans. Social Security is the most important source of retirement income for most workers.”