The next meeting of the St. Paul Area Local Retirees Chapter will be held on November 20, 2019 at 11 AM at the St. Paul, MN Area Local’s office, 2261 Waters Dr., Mendota Heights, MN 55120.

The $50.00 dollar drawing at the September meeting was won by Bob Meyer. The drawing is held at each meeting. You must be present to win.

Thanks to Local President, Todd Elkerton for chairing the meeting in my absence. We can always count on President Elkerton to keep us informed regarding how our APWU national officers are fighting to protect our retirement as well as the welfare of current employees.

Two of the things I am currently most interested in are fraud attempts against seniors and the cost of prescription drugs. I have written several articles about fraudulent phone calls claiming some problem with your taxes or your social security, so I won’t go into that except to say government agencies do not call you about such things. They communicate by mail. Don’t bite; just hang up.

Drug companies claim they need to raise prices in order to conduct research, etc., however the CEOs of drug companies keep getting higher and higher salaries and bonuses and very little research is done. Insulin has the same formula as when it was initially created, however the price has increased a thousand-fold. People, including children, die every day because they cannot afford prescription drugs. Many states are taking action to lower drug prices, but the federal government must take steps to make it possible for Medicare to negotiate prices for prescription drugs. Controls must be put into place to stop the greed and profiteering of drug companies. That is another thing to discuss when you call your representatives.

To repeat my plea in every article….PLEASE call your congressional representatives!!!!! The Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121. Tell them to leave the postal service alone, leave social security, Medicare, Medicaid and our veterans alone too.

Ask your family members and friends to call also. Without the support of our representatives, the survival of the postal service as well as our retirement benefits, and even our way of life is in danger. Hold them responsible for their decisions. It only takes a minute. Call..

As always, you may contact me via my Email address lreed6112@aol.com. You can also call the union office at 651-778-1637 or visit the Local’s website at stpaulapwu.org . The union office is allowed to give out my home phone number. I welcome your contacts.

I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting. We’ll do a little business and finish off with food. It really is fun to catch up on what our retiree friends are doing

Lola Reed Langford,
Chapter President