Groups rally to protect Social Security benefits

WILKES-BARRE — Dozens of community leaders, activists and elected officials took to Public Square on Saturday afternoon in a rally calling on Congress to act and protect Social Security benefits.

The rally, attended by some of Luzerne County’s elected leaders, was held after the board of trustees said in its annual report this year that its trust funds are not adequately financed and that monthly Social Security benefits could have to be cut by as much as 23%.

“We’re here with the (American Federation of Government Employees) to really lift up how important it is to protect Social Security right now with so many other cuts being made to the social safety net,” said Jessica Brittain, organizing director of Action Together NEPA. “It is more important than ever, especially after Medicaid now has been decimated. It’s not hard to see that Social Security is one of the next things on the chopping block.”

Groups attending the rally, which coincided with the 90th anniversary of the Social Security program, included Action Together NEPA, Affordable Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Policy Center, Pennsylvanians Together, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and For Our Future Pennsylvania.

Also in attendance were a number of area lawmakers, including state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, Wilkes-Barre; state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore; and State Rep. James Haddock, D-116, Pittston Twp.

Flynn said he attended the event to show his support for Social Security.

“It’s the 90th anniversary of a program that works — that helps Americans,” Flynn said. “What does the president and Congress want to do? They want to defund it. They want to divert the money into private hands when the system has worked.”

Pashinski noted that funding from Social Security also provides a boon to the economy.

“That means those folks can buy the food. They can take care of their families,” Pashinski said. “Social Security is life and death for a lot of people, and it’s one of the greatest programs that ever came out.”

Attendees at the rally held banners reading, “Protect our checks” and “Save SSA!” Among those in participation was Janet Mayewski, 60, of Nanticoke, who said she is a registered Republican who has been attending “all the protests” since Donald Trump’s election as president.

“Our voices need to be heard,” Mayewski said. “Social Security isn’t just about the aged. It’s about the young people who lose their parents. It’s about Social Security Disability when you can no longer work. So it pertains to all of us and we need to keep it.”

Her sister, Kathleen Mayewski, 57, of Hanover Twp., said she was a registered independent voter who switched to the Democratic party because of Trump’s actions in office, calling him “dangerous.”

“This is not going to work,” Kathleen Mayewski said. “Every day it’s something else that he’s dismantling and taking money away. It’s everything. He has no regard for anything, except himself.”

Originally Published: August 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM EDT