It’s time to reclaim the promise of a secure retirement—not as it is today or as it was in the past, but as it can be—to fulfill our collective obligation to ensure that all Americans, after careers of hard work and service, can live independent, dignified lives.

Retirement security is a shared the responsibility for employers, workers and our country. The recession has left millions of Americans unemployed or underemployed, which makes their retirement security even more tenuous.

Reclaiming the promise is about fighting for universal access to secure retirement plans into which states and employers pay their required yearly contributions.

Reclaiming the promise is about ensuring all workers are covered by retirement plans that provide consistent and adequate income to maintain a reasonable standard of living.

Reclaiming the promise is about ensuring earned retirement benefits are fully funded and safeguarded from market volatility or changes in employers’ economic situations.

The promise is under attack by those who demand and pursue austerity, polarization and privatization.