2024 Sister's Keeper Summit and Training
April 26, 2024
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AFGE is urging the Social Security Administration (SSA) to reopen its field office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, so that beneficiaries who have paid into the program and earned the benefits have equal access as everyone else in the U.S.
Nearly 2.5 million people live in the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s largest city and capital. SSA closed its San Juan SSA office building in April last year due to eviction from the leaser. A year later, the office remains closed. Beneficiaries have been traveling to temporary offices outside the city, which means a long and often expensive commute for them and SSA employees.
AFGE last week sent a delegation to San Juan to participate in a roundtable discussion on the issue and meet with state officers to find solutions.
Among experts and officials participating in the roundtable discussion were AFGE Council 220 President Jessia LaPointe, San Juan SSA AFGE Local 2608 President Abrahan Santiago, AFGE Legislative Representative Jeff Cruz, Council 220 Communications Committee Chair and HISCO Legislative Subcommittee Chair Delia Trevino, State Senator William Villafane Ramos, Governor Pedro Pierluisi, California Rep. Jimmy Gomez, Florida Rep. Darren Soto, SSA Regional Director Raymond Egan, Social Security Works President Nancy Altman, Social Security Works Executive Director Alex Lawson, and representatives from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and General Services Administration (GSA). SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley attended the round table meeting via Zoom.
LaPointe, whose council represents SSA field office employees across the country, said a community-based field office must be restored as soon as possible.
“Asking seniors to travel out of the city without access to good public transportation is a huge disservice to older Puerto Ricans that have paid for these benefits and services throughout their entire working lives,” she said. “They deserve to have a community-based field office geographically convenient to them when they need it.”
Almost 20 SSA Field Office employees that were unceremoniously displaced and dispersed to two different offices outside the city limits when the San Juan field office was unexpectedly closed are eager to return, get their lives back, and service the needs of Social Security applicants and beneficiaries in San Juan, she added.
Santiago said employees are being negatively impacted by the closure of this field office which has been going on for a year now. They have to travel more than an hour daily in some cases. Some have been charged AWOL for leaving their ‘alternate duty station’ to pick up their kids at school. Another employee regretted that they have not been able to take or pick up their kids from school, incurring extra expenses.
“These actions are not justified. Our SSA employees deserve better,” he said.
Trevino said all individuals in Puerto Rico, as U.S. citizens, are entitled to fair representation and access to federal resources.
“It is crucial that Puerto Ricans are treated equally in federal employment and within their communities,” she said. “It is essential to uphold the principles of equality and justice for all Americans, including those residing in Puerto Rico. Hearing first-hand accounts from employees impacted by the closure in San Juan sheds a new light on the reality of how these circumstances have not only affected this community but the employees.”
Both SSA and GSA said they are committed to reopening the office.
Prior to the roundtable discussion, AFGE delegation had breakfast with State Senator Villafañe who organized the event, had lunch with San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero, and met with Governor Pierluisi. AFGE representatives also toured SSA offices where workers were re-deployed to after the eviction of the San Juan office, to interview employees affected to represent their concerns in the meetings.
Rep. Delia Ramirez from Illinois sent a letter to GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan, urging GSA to identify a new SSA field office location in San Juan as quickly as possible. GSA provides workspace to more than one million federal civilian workers.
“It is imperative that the SSA resumes providing quality in-person services to San Juan residents, many of whom are family members of my constituents in the Illinois 3rd Congressional District, which hosts one the largest Puerto Rican communities outside of the island,” she wrote. “Identifying a new location and reopening this SSA field office is critical to ensuring the American citizens of San Juan get the service they need and deserve, especially those individuals who need computer access or technical assistance.”
Register now for the 2024 Sister's Keeper Summit in San Diego from May 31–June 2, 2024.
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