Senators Hawley and Coons Stopping Tier II Pick-Pockets

What is the Railroad Retirement Fairness Act?

The Railroad Retirement Fairness Act isn’t just another bill in Washington. For railroaders and our families, it’s a chance to fix something that never should have been broken in the first place.

Right now, under current law, some railroad retirees and our spouses see our Tier II retirement benefits reduced if we keep working for the same non-railroad employer after retirement. That means money they already earned, over years and decades on the rails, (and putting up with a spouse who is on the rails,) can be taken away because of a technicality in federal law.

To our brothers and sisters who experience this every month, it’s like standing there and watching your wife get pick-pocketed by Uncle Sam, and not being able to do a thing about it.

That’s been the reality for too many railroad families for far too many years.

How does the Railroad Retirement Fairness Act Help Railroaders?

The Railroad Retirement Fairness Act puts a stop to these unfair penalties. This bill would make sure retirees and our spouses receive the full Tier II benefits we have all earned. We’re talking no penalties, no fine print, no games.

As it’s laid out in Senator Chris Coon’s Press release about the bill’s introduction to Congress.

The Railroad Retirement Fairness Act would:

1. Eliminate the arbitrary “last prior employer” deduction
2. Allow railroad retirees and their spouses to continue working in non-railroad jobs without losing earned retirement benefits
3. Ensure more equal treatment for retirees regardless of where they choose to work in retirement

Obviously, it will be good in our current economy to see our take-home income on the rise, but this is about more than just numbers on a check.

The Family Sacrifice Behind Tier II Benefits

Railroading isn’t a normal job. It never has been. The long hours, the missed holidays, the constant calls, the stress. We all know what it takes. But we also know we don’t do it alone.

Our spouses live this life right along with us.

They’re the ones who adjust their schedules. They’re the ones who pick up the slack at home. They’re the ones explaining to the kids that Santa is going to come a day early this year because Mom or Dad is going to be at the away-from-home terminal on the 25th.

In a lot of cases, being married to a railroader with our lack of stable schedules also means that our spouses alter their career paths to make sure someone is available to cover the basics on the home front. They might take part-time work or leave the fast track to maintain schedule flexibility, or work from home. A lot of our spouses end up having to leave the workforce altogether for these reasons.

Brass tax is that the 401K’s and pensions that many of our spouses would have otherwise been in line for were sacrificed to make it so we could answer a 2-hour call to work at the drop of a hat for 3 decades.

Tier II benefits are part of how that sacrifice is recognized. It’s not just retirement. It’s compensation for a lifetime of putting family plans second to the railroad, and it is an acknowledgment that our wives and husbands have not been given an opportunity to work untethered in their own careers.

Anyone who’s been married to one of us long enough to qualify for Tier II benefits has sure as hell earned them.

So when those benefits get reduced just because a spouse chooses to work after we have hit retirement, (and everything they’ve already given,) it is plain wrong.

The current rule can force retirees and spouses to leave jobs they want to keep or switch employers, simply to avoid losing benefits they earned. In many cases, it discourages our retirees and their spouses from working at all.

That’s why this bill matters. It’s how we finally do something about it and stop being forced to watch our spouse get robbed by the government every month, or have their job take a backseat to the railroad one last time.

United Front With Bipartisan Support

SMART-TD is proud to announce the leaders who stepped up to make this happen. They are Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Chris Coons (D-DE), along with Representatives Troy Nehls (R-TX) and Chris Deluzio (D-PA).

Two Republicans. Two Democrats.

That’s not by chance. That’s the path SMART-TD has been building for years. Railroad issues aren’t partisan, and we like to keep it that way.  

These Representatives and Senators have taken the time to listen. They’ve worked with SMART-TD on rail safety, quality of life, and retirement issues for long enough that they understand our issues and our values.

And they know this much for sure. Railroaders will put up with a lot. But we’re not going to sit quietly while our families get short-changed.

A Matter of Respect

Providing for our families and having something solid at the end of a long career are the two main reasons we stick with this life. When that gets chipped away, it hits home.

The Railroad Retirement Fairness Act is about putting a stop to that.

Fairness is the word they used in the bill title, but it just as easily could have been Respect. It’s about both, and after decades on the rail, we have earned them.