Public Employees Retirement System
PERS, or the Public Employees Retirement System, is the State of Oregon’s defined benefit retirement plan for public workers. Even though most public employees earn less than they would in the private sector, they believe in serving our community. In the past, they were promised a secure retirement in exchange for their service. But now, that retirement is under attack. For the past 15 years, all newly hired public employees have received a reduced pension from the old PERS. Today, more than 50% of the public workforce in Oregon is in this new, self-sustaining system. Oregon’s pension system was 111% funded in 2007. But the market crashed in the Great Recession and the fund lost 30% of its value. Most people believe that it shouldn’t be up to today’s public employees to make up those investment losses. This did not stop the 2019 Oregon Legislature from again cutting retirement benefits for current and future public employees. SEIU members hope to work with legislators on creative solutions to buying down the unfunded actuarial liability (UAL), like using State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF) reserves, rather than continuing the never-ending cycle of cuts and litigation.
OregonSaves
In 2019, homecare and personal support workers won a retirement plan in their contract for the first time ever. OregonSaves is a state retirement program that allows workers or employers to enroll in the program and have a retirement that follows them throughout their career – it isn’t tied to just one job. Through OregonSaves, these workers can save thousands of dollars toward a secure retirement. This was a historic win for SEIU members and was only possible because thousands of homecare and personal support workers took our bargaining surveys and said that retirement security was a top concern. In response, the care providers on our union’s bargaining team fought hard for, and won, a proposal to create a new retirement plan for care providers – the first of its kind in Oregon! This could not have happened without all of us joining together in union.