Paul Pytak to STRS Board: Give us back our COLA!
Paul Pytak spoke to the STRS Board off-the-cuff on April 18, 2019. He wrote out his remarks later, for publication here.
An approximate recap of the speech given to the STRS Board in Columbus on April 18, 2019 by Paul F. Pytak, AFT 279-R.
Members of the STRS Board, Mr. Chairman, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak – I will keep it short.
I have approximately 22 years with the system. I don’t have 35 or 30 years.
I’m the fellow who spoke six months ago about the price of bananas and wash cloths. Six months have passed and nothing has been done about our COLA Cost of Living Allowance. The Assistant Director of Investment makes over seven hundred thousand dollars a year; it will take me over ten years to earn what he received in just six months!
Before I retired I went to the STRS meetings. I asked and was specifically told on more than one occasion that we would received a Cost Of Living Allowance.
There is a fiduciary obligation on the part of STRS. Fiduciary, meaning trust, a legal and a moral obligation which has not been kept.
A (investment) gentleman spoke of opportunities. What happened to the opportunities of ten years ago. These (investment) fellows, do you think they are here because they love you? They are here because they want our money! They will tell you anything.
In the past, I was a Federal Auditor for the National Credit Union Administration. Credit Unions are limited by the Federal Government as to what they may invest in. They may not make a lot of money, but at least they don’t lose money.
I noticed that in the financial papers there is reference to high salaries and bonuses. Do these people think they are the only ones that can do this job. Some of us also have accounting backgrounds and are quite capable.
In the end you can’t take all of this money with you. The only thing you can take with you are your “good deeds.” But to have good deeds you need a conscience.
If all of these people at STRS were doing a good job, we would not have to be here. Give us back our COLA!
An approximate recap of the speech given to the STRS Board in Columbus on April 18, 2019 by Paul F. Pytak, AFT 279-R.
Members of the STRS Board, Mr. Chairman, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak – I will keep it short.
I have approximately 22 years with the system. I don’t have 35 or 30 years.
I’m the fellow who spoke six months ago about the price of bananas and wash cloths. Six months have passed and nothing has been done about our COLA Cost of Living Allowance. The Assistant Director of Investment makes over seven hundred thousand dollars a year; it will take me over ten years to earn what he received in just six months!
Before I retired I went to the STRS meetings. I asked and was specifically told on more than one occasion that we would received a Cost Of Living Allowance.
There is a fiduciary obligation on the part of STRS. Fiduciary, meaning trust, a legal and a moral obligation which has not been kept.
A (investment) gentleman spoke of opportunities. What happened to the opportunities of ten years ago. These (investment) fellows, do you think they are here because they love you? They are here because they want our money! They will tell you anything.
In the past, I was a Federal Auditor for the National Credit Union Administration. Credit Unions are limited by the Federal Government as to what they may invest in. They may not make a lot of money, but at least they don’t lose money.
I noticed that in the financial papers there is reference to high salaries and bonuses. Do these people think they are the only ones that can do this job. Some of us also have accounting backgrounds and are quite capable.
In the end you can’t take all of this money with you. The only thing you can take with you are your “good deeds.” But to have good deeds you need a conscience.
If all of these people at STRS were doing a good job, we would not have to be here. Give us back our COLA!
posted by Kathie Bracy at 8:12 PM
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