On Saturday, August 14th, 2010, the Social Security Act will mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of it being signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  

Since August 14th, 1935, the Act has admirably served millions of disabled and retired Americans and is our country's greatest social insurance program.

Sadly, it is under constant attack from right wing, conservative extremists and is taken for granted by far too many people.  

For those of us in our fifties, we are becoming far more aware of the Acts importance as every day slowly slips by and retirement looms ever so closer.  For those of us working in the legal field with injured workers, every day consists of a client consultation regarding the end of their working career and the stark reality that it is time to apply for Social Security Disability benefits.  This is especially true for those employed in the construction industry that have sacrificed their bodies to build our country’s infrastructure and buildings.

Though the Act gave American citizens Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Medicare, it also created unemployment insurance benefits.  Again, this part of the Act has provided great financial security to those who have lost their job through no fault of their own and has helped stabilize local economies during bad economic times.

Here in Western New York, we are all too familiar with Mother Nature’s wrath on the construction industry in winter and unemployment insurance benefits help area construction workers ride the financial storm out until spring.

On a personal note, Survivor benefits - the forgotten part of the Act - was crucial to the financial survival of my mother, myself and my three brothers when my father passed away from cancer at thirty four years of age.  When he died in 1961, my mother was left with the grim prospect of raising four boys all under the age of thirteen years old. With the help of Survivor benefits and my grandparents, my mother was able to raise us to become honorable citizens of this great country.

The importance of the Social Security Act should never be taken for granted and protecting it for future generations should be of paramount importance to our elected representatives in the U.S. Congress and White House.

On Saturday, August 14th, 2010, we should take a moment to remember the greatest president in the history of this Nation, Franklin D. Roosevelt, his New Deal legislation and his advocacy of economic security for the elderly, disabled, unemployed and children of deceased parents.

Timothy J. Heyden

Editor’s Note: Heyden is employed as an Unemployment Insurance Advocate by the Buffalo Labor Law firm of Collins & Brown LLC and handles unemployment insurance problems for the firm’s Union clients.  Heyden also represents unemployed workers at hearings held before the Buffalo-area’s Administrative Law Judges.