Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Wilkinsburg Mayor Dontae Comans joined other local officials and advocates to rally outside the Social Security office in East Liberty on Tuesday, arguing that the services it offers should be spared from sweeping cuts being made by Donald Trump’s administration.
Organized by the Wilkinsburg Democratic Committee and Greater Pittsburgh Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees, the event was meant to show support for the East Liberty office, and for the services provided by Social Security in general.
“We're here today to save this building. This building is important,” said Comans. “Who wants to go online? Who wants to call and wait on hold for an hour?”
“Closing this building right here, and extracting the access to so many people that need it, not only is wrong, in many ways, it’s criminal,” said Gainey.
In a March 27 press statement, the Social Security Administration denied reports that the agency was permanently closing field offices, saying it “works closely with local congressional delegations before closing any office permanently.”
But the agency does plan to cut more than 10 percent of its workforce. And the Station Street facility appeared along with Downtown’s William S. Moorhead Federal Building – which also contains Social Security offices – on a list of federally owned properties that could be put up for sale. The list was deleted shortly after being posted in March, but it raised questions about the future of both buildings.
Locals who had used services in the East Liberty office spoke in support of preserving it. Several also expressed concerns about the long-term viability of Social Security itself, and questioned the amount that wealthier Americans pay into the program.
“I went on Medicare a couple of years ago. And when I first started, there was a mess-up with my account, and I tried for months to straighten it out online, and by emails, and electronically,” said Squirrel Hill resident Nicholas Izzo. “Finally, I came down here into the office, and the good people in this office straightened it out in about two minutes. So that's what they want to take away from us.”
“I have a grandmother that needs Social Security, I come from an organizing background so I'm often with older people who need these services and I know how important it is to them,” said NaTisha Washington, a Wilkinsburg borough council member. “There are a lot of people that are struggling right now, people that are losing jobs, especially federal workers, and not having this access can be a detriment to them even having housing.”
Washington said the East Liberty office is used by people from well outside the neighborhood, including Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills.
Almost 69 million Americans receive a monthly Social Security benefit. And the program serves as a critical safety net, with one study finding that it has lifted more people out of poverty than any other government program.
Social Security has more than 1,200 field offices nationwide that provide in-person customer service. In addition to the East Liberty and downtown Pittsburgh offices, there are locations in New Castle, McKeesport, Butler, Mt. Lebanon and Monroeville.
Compounding concern over potential cuts is the fact that the agency has discussed other changes that advocates worry would drive more people to need in-person help.
Several of those at Tuesday’s rally emphasized the importance of physical, easy-to-access Social Security buildings, especially for less technically-literate older adults.
“At the end of the day, most of the seniors, they don't know how to navigate the system. So if you're talking about them going online and doing something, that's not going to work,” Gainey said. “They have a relationship with this building. … [T]these people depended on this building. It would be wrong, even in a proposed state, to close this building.”
Denise Edwards, secretary/treasurer of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees and chair of the Wilkinsburg Democratic Committee, emphasized that many seniors find navigating Social Security online to be “alienating.”
“You want to look a person in the eye and ask your questions,” she said. “We deserve to be treated like human beings, and not just some list of numbers online in the cybersphere or something.”
