RH Jones: "ORTA supports a guaranteed COLA ..." so what's that supposed to mean?

From RH Jones, April 6, 2010
Subject: Re: "ORTA supports a guaranteed COLA for current and future retirees," so says ORTA...
ORTA President, Bob Dengler:

In all due respect, your membership is not so uninformed as to see through this obvious exclusion of mentioning our 3% fixed flat COLA. By your statement: "ORTA supports a guaranteed COLA ...," this ORTA Life Member wonders if you mean ORTA supports a COLA, even if it goes down so far as to, for instance, an only one quarter percent (1/4%) guaranteed COLA; or, as we really know, ORTA does mistakenly support the effort to cut us 1% which will make our COLA only 2%.

Again, we are not fooled by exclusion of words; admit that the ORTA goes along with the cuts. Unfortunately, the ORTA COLA support of a cut is coming at a time when the economy is reported to be recovering! Further, our employer has no choice but to bite the bullet and increase the employer contribution. You, Bob Dengler, as a WWII veteran, know that. For without support of a highly educated citizenry, Americans will be biting the bullets from foreign guns. A retired educator HC/Rx and 3% COLA is a small part of that funding required to educate citizens so they can earn a living and protect themselves in these technologically advanced times.

(Click image to enlarge.)

Historically, a couple years or so back, the STRS board narrow-mindedly voted to take out 3% of the STRS HC 4% employer contribution account, and then transferred it to seed the STRS general fund. Now, having only 1% of the original HC funding has forced cuts to retired members. Educator retirement is no good without HC/Rx or being able to keep up with inflation of the dollar. As the economy is on the rebound, and the STRS income is growing, at this time this 1% reduction is not even necessary; especially, when STRS retired members are already experiencing a large sacrificial cut in our HC/Rx . By the way, OPERS is sending 5% to their HC/Rx funding. Provided Ohio educators with a noncompunded 3% COLA has been a tiny step forward in securing a secure future for our children. The negative alternative, also, that of cutting retired teachers, is not going unnoticed by college age students who may be considering education as a profession.

Please do the right thing and make the change to "hang tough" on any narrow minded provincials who cannot see the "big picture" and would seek to cut retirees once again, perhaps even illegally. Sir, protecting the pension, and improving on it, is what you and I paid our dues for.

Please read the ORTA site below mentioned by John Curry.

RHJones, Life Member of ORTA
From John Curry, April 6, 2010
Subject: "ORTA supports a guaranteed COLA for current and future retirees," so says ORTA...
...notice that they didn't say a 3%, a 2% or a 1% COLA! Here is the link: http://www.orta.org/id482.html