July Report
Retiree Report July 13, 2025
Greetings, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July. Our independence and democracy are a great treasure. We have fought wars that have cost the lives of many good men and women throughout our history to protect and preserve our freedom.
July is expected to be hot and drier than the wet spring we have just come through. Hopefully, our retirees and their families will remain comfortable.
Our meeting schedule for the rest of the year 2025 is as follows:
September 8 .... This will be our first meeting following our summer break.
October 13 ... All meetings are on Monday and start at 11:00 am
November 10 ... This is a very important meeting. The UAW TRUST will be a at this meeting and they will bring with them all of the providers of our health care benefits. November is also the month we have our Thanksgiving/Christmas luncheon.
We provide the meat, drinks, and bread. We kindly request that if you plan to attend, please bring a covered dish or dessert.
December 8 ... We will complete our 2025 calendar year.
Our two newest benefits, OTC (OVER THE COUNTER) and HRA (HEALTH REIMBURSEMENT ASSISTANCE), both seem to be well-received by our members and their dependents. The OTC is a $350. benefit for the member and their spouse. The HRA is a $600. benefit dedicated to our members and can be used by any of their dependents. ( A dependent is one a member can claim on their income tax.) There are several different ways you can take advantage of these benefits. We would encourage you to pay close attention to the mail you receive from the UAW RETIREE MEDICAL BENEFIT TRUST. The web address for the TRUST is: UAWTRUST.org. There is great amount of information on this website, and all contact information is available if you have a need to get in touch with any of our providers. There are many of our members who do not have a computer or an email address, to many of them are not taking advantage of these great money-saving benefits. Would you please make an effort to contact any of our co-workers you may know, and encourage them to get in touch with someone if they need help getting these benefits started?
If you keep up with the news, you should know that the Budget Reconciliation Bill was passed by a narrow margin. The vote in the House of Representatives, as well as the vote in the Senate, was passed by the slimmest of margins. All Republicans cast the ballots in both Chambers to pass this most controversial piece of legislation. The President signed it into law on July 4th. The great majority of the Country believes this to be an extremely bad bill, and this includes many of the Republicans who voted for it. It provides large tax giveaways to the richest of the rich, millionaires, and billionaires. It takes away health care coverage from some of the poorest and most needy citizens. It is projected that approximately 15 million will lose their health care coverage, and the potential for closing hospitals in the rural areas of the United States may be in the hundreds. This budget is projected to add 2.3 trillion dollars to our National Debt. ( Our children and grandchildren will certainly appreciate that they will have to pay for the debt this bill created.)
I have read several opinions from our members, and one that always catches my interest is the inference that the UAW or maybe any union shouldn't try to tell, suggest, or indicate who a member should vote for. They felt unnecessary pressure to get their vote the way the Union might ask. I guess I will never understand this position and here is why:
Our country is made up of laws, and the UAW and all Unions basically derive from a law passed in 1935 known as the Wagner Act. The right to organize, form and join a Union and engage in collective bargaining. (This is a summary of the Wagner Act; you are welcome to Google it and read the entire act if you wish.) For years, a lot of states and elected officials have continuously chipped away at our Union rights. Some methods have been legislative actions to weaken or prevent Unions from being able to engage in fair negotiations. The party holding office has the right to appoint three of the five members of the National Labor Relations Board, who not only oversee, compliance and enforcement of the Act. they are the main government body that conducts and certifies the election results. They attempt to conduct fair elections and certify their results.
We were born and established via an Act of legislation, THE WAGNER ACT as outlined above, and we always face the threat of being eliminated by the same process. Will we always be involved in voter action and turnout? YES, YES, YES. Do we encourage and attempt to influence our members on the best person to vote for; in an effort to protect our existence? YES, YES, YES.
The Union spend a lot of time, effort, and resources attempting to educate and draw attention to the candidates who share our common interest to see it they will help or harm our basic needs after our procedures are followed we endorse candidates that have been determined the best to protectors of our members right to continue with our economic social justice.
Does our Union enjoy doing this? No, No, No. However, it is absolutely necessary to be a major player in our political process. As we have always pointed out, if you don't have a seat at the table, most likely you will be on the menu.
Good Information please copy and keep in your position:
John Davis our Editor and website Administrator put this important document together for our membership: Thanks John.
A printable copy is here: https://uawlocal2195.org/blog/what-do-event-death-member
What to Do In the Event of the Death of a Member or Surviving Spouse
Without a benefit representative it is difficult to know what to do in the event of the death of a
member or surviving spouse. Pension, Life Insurance and Health Care are all impacted by a
death. Here is what the survivors should do:
1. Call GM Benefits & Services Center – Survivor Services Department at 1-800-489-4646.
a. Select the option “Report a death” and the call will be transferred to the Survivor
Services Department
b. Be prepared to provide as much of the following information as possible:
i. The deceased’s name
ii. Their Social Security number if available
iii. Their date of birth
iv. The date of death
v. Cause of death (natural causes vs. accidental)
vi. The date of marriage – if applicable
vii. Spouse’s name, date of birth, mailing address and phone number
viii. If no spouse, then the proper contact person’s name, mailing address and
phone number This notification will take care of all benefits through GM
including Pension, Life Insurance and Personal Savings Plan (if enrolled)
2. Call Retiree Health Care Connect at 1-866-637-7555.
a. Information that may be needed during this call:
b. Name of the deceased
c. Last 4 numbers of their Social Security Number
d. Date of birth of the deceased
e. Date of death
f. If there is a surviving spouse, information as listed above in the GM Benefits section
3. 3. Express Scripts Pharmacy at 1-866-662-0274 *only if the deceased was enrolled in “worry
free fills” .
4. If the member was a Delphi Retiree and received a portion of their pension from the PBGC,
they will need to be contacted. The number to report a death to the PBGC is 1-800-400-
7242. It is advised to have all the same information available that is needed to report to
GM.
5. If the member received Social Security they will need to be notified. Most funeral homes
notify Social Security, but if they do not the number is 1-800-772-1213. You can speak to
a Social Security representative between 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
6. One thing each member should do is make sure your beneficiary is correct in all your
information. You can have more than one beneficiary, but they must be designated prior to
your death. Fidelity Investments manages this. To contact them call 1-800-420-2363.
In Solidarity,
Chuck
256-874-0850