My first act as the new Acting President is towishing us a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous 2024.

Unfortunately, my new position comes with losing a dynamic former president, Monte Baggs.

Monte Baggs resigned as President in December, for personal reasons but will continue as a Board member.  Monte has led the “Retiree Charge” for quite some time facing some major changes to our benefits.  One of his best moments was diplomatically appealing to AT&T to leave our Life Insurance and Death Benefits as is.  He gained support from the Wall Street Journal which had a full spread on the change in corporate life and the affect it had on many of its retirees, especially those that were operators or technicians when AT&T was “Ma Bell.”  I admire him and every other retiree that put themselves out there to be interviewed and written about in the national press.Unfortunately, we know it did not change their minds.  However, many Grandfathered retirees owe added gratitude for the reminder to AT&T that they are not included in any loss or downgrade.

In 2022, Telco supported a Shareholder proxy suggesting a reduced payment to AT&T executives due to the poor stock performance.  Even though it received over 55%, the only answer we repeatedly received from the Board of Directors was that they would take it under advisement.  Shareholders proposals are non-binding as per the SEC.

Monte mentioned the Claw back arrangement that he was able to negotiate with AT&T. Telco did not stop there and continued to work with NRLN to develop permanent legislation.

Our next change was the end of the Health Reimbursement Account(HRA).  This had been clearly stated by AT&T any years ago.  Since Healthcare benefits are not guaranteed, we did not know what direction they would take.  AT&T transitioned to the AT&T Medicare Advantage Plan as the only subsidized healthcare AT&T will support.  This transition went very smoothly with Monte and the Telco Board helping as needed.  Please see John’s article on Healthcare.

In May, Monte and the Board were notified of a new potential problem:   the selling (transition) of some of our pension funds to Athene, an insurance, annuity company.  When AT&T notified us, the deal was done!  Monte continued with the other retiree groups and NRLN to develop a legislative safety net.  Please see the article about pension de-risking.  This is of interest to everyone whether you were in the first wave or not.

While Telco Retirees was unable to stop any of these benefit transitions, under Monte’s direction, we made every effort to make it easy as possible, answering questions and providing clarification.

Thanks to Monte for his leadership over the years and I know his continued direction will aid us in the future.

Sam Moriana, Board Communications Member, also resigned for family health reasons.  Sam was a willing, generous member and his presence and assistance will be sorely missed.  We wish Sam and his family all the best.

I will continue as Acting President until a new president can be elected.  If any of our members would like to serve on the Board, please let us know.  Helping fellow retirees is a rewarding position.  Navigating AT&T is not as easy as it once was.

2023 had numerous surprises for all of us.  While we had some healthcare challenges, we look forward to continuing to serve you in 2024 to the best of our ability.