The Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc. advocates for more than 205,000

Bell Atlantic Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas i ...

NYNEX NYNEX Corporation was an American telephone company that served five states of New England (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) as well as most of the state of New York from January 1, 1984 to August 14, 1997. Histor ...

GTE GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing furth ...

, MCI, Idearc Media, Idearc/SuperMedia, and

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas ...

union and management

retirees A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

. The association also represents active Verizon employees regarding retiree issues, such as

cash balance plan A cash balance plan is a defined benefit retirement plan that maintains hypothetical individual employee accounts like a defined contribution plan. The hypothetical nature of the individual accounts was crucial in the early adoption of such plans ...

conversions and termination of management pension and healthcare benefits. Corporations have been cutting back on retiree pensions and healthcare coverage. The Association’s advocacy works to prevent widespread cuts for Verizon and SuperMedia retirees. The 134,000 members of the Association of BellTel Retirees have banded together to fight for the protection of retirees. The association believes that with all retirees acting together they can achieve pension inflation protection and, through congressional action, restore and protect the healthcare benefits that have been chiseled away through passage of federal retiree healthcare protection

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

. In a class federal action lawsuit, participants in Verizon’s (VZ) pension plans who were involuntarily transferred to Idearc’s pension plans in November 2006 have pending claims of ERISA violations including: * Breach of fiduciary duty for failure to comply with pension plan document rules; and * Other ERISA violations justifying that the federal court order declaratory, injunctive and other equitable relief, and restore the retirees into Verizon’s sponsored employee benefit plans. The Association of BellTel Retirees can be found on Facebook. Proxy campaign success wins elimination of Verizon executive golden parachutes and bloated executive bonuses in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007. The 2003 win was the first time any Bell System Company was ever defeated in a proxy vote in its 125-year history. The association won the Say on Pay proxy by a 50.18% vote in 2007.

ProtectSeniors.org

ProtectSeniors.Org is a

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

group founded in 2006 to advocate for retired Americans. It was founded by Verizon retiree members of the Association of BellTel Retirees. ProtectSeniors.Org is dedicated to the interests of corporate retirees in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The group represents 14.3 million retirees from 392 companies, 45 labor union locals, 98 municipal, state and federal retiree groups and 16 associations.

References

Fortune Magazine - We Won't Be Ignored - August 13, 2001

* ttps://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/retirement/2006-01-16-pension-funds_x.htm USA Today - Pension Funds Fall Short of Guarantees - January 16, 2006br> Pittsburgh Tribune – Review - Verizon Retirees Seek Say on Pay - May 3, 2007
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/19/technology/19verizon.html New York Times – Say On Pay Gets Support at Verizon – May 19, 2007
New York Times – Verizon to Put Executive Pay to Shareholder Vote – November 2, 2007 Reuters - Verizon Retirees to Shareowners: Vote Nay on Pay- April 9, 2009
* ttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/31/ivan-seidenberg-pay-share_n_181210.html Huffington Post - Retirees Group To Vote Against Verizon CEO’s Pay – March 31, 2009br>Verizon Shareholders Approve Executive pay – May 7, 2009
* ttp://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100328/SUB/303289971 Crain's New York Business - Putting Verizon CEO's Pay Through The Wringer - March 28, 2010(subscription required)
Crain's New York Business - Facing the Music on Boss Pay - June 20, 2010 Bergen Record - Retirees Seek To Limit Verizon Executive Bonuses -March 31, 2011 Star Ledger -Retirees Seek To Limi Verizon Executive Bonuses - March 31, 2011

Bloomberg News - Verizon Retiree Group Proposes Performance Share Payout Limits- March 29, 2011Long Island Business News - Verizon retirees sue to protect their pensions - June 17, 2011
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122710/http://antonnews.com/syossetjerichotribune/news/17536-fighting-for-retiree-benefits-for-15-years.html/ Syosset Jericho Tribune - Fighting for Retiree Benefits for 15 Years - September 2, 2011]
The Ocean Star - Resident works with retiree group to protect pensions - October 7, 2011
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* ttp://www.stardem.com/business/article_b5cc0167-bf97-53c7-bffe-5b6e7fddb2dc.html Star Democrat - Easton resident continues fight for retiree benefits - December 1, 2011br>Courier News and Home News Tribune - N.J. must protect benefits of those already retired - December 6, 2011Daily Record - N.J. must protect benefits of those already retired - December 6, 2011

External links

Official website
Retirement in the United States