Alan Gordon
I’ve been a caseworker in the Department of Welfare in Delaware Country Pennsylvania for 24 years, helping Pennsylvanians who have next to nothing become self-sufficient. As you can imagine, it’s a hard and emotional job that comes with its fair share of frustrations. But every challenge has its rewards. For me, it was when a long-suffering client came back to my office to thank for me for helping him get sober, get a job, and get his life back on track.
I don’t make a lot, and since the recession public workers across Pennsylvania have faced wage freezes and potential layoffs. Through it all, I thought I could count on my pension – until now.
Governor Corbett is traveling around the state, campaigning on the idea that we need to rob public workers of their modest retirement. For someone who is helps over 150 Pennsylvanians every month get their lives back on track, and who pays six percent of every paycheck toward their pension, this hardly seems fair.
My partner and I are on a tight budget. We have to balance paying our mortgage and supporting aging parents. I’ve got a 12-year-old car whose repairs cost more than the car is worth. Knowing I can count on my pension is the only way our finances work. It’s unconscionable that Governor Corbett is campaigning on the backs of workers of public workers like me.
