Djuana Washington took a call in April from an 87-year-old man.
She’s a customer service representative (CSR) for the Social Security Administration at the agency’s Wilkes-Barre Data Operations Center, known as the DOC, in Plains Township.
The man wanted to change his direct deposit information over the phone.
But on that day, the Trump Administration put a new rule into place. CSRs like Washington could no longer help callers change their banking information over the phone. Beneficiaries now have to create a My Social Security account online or come into their local office to change the information.
"At 87 this caller said he doesn't have a computer, he doesn't drive, and he doesn't have anyone in his household who could drive him,” she said.
Washington spent an hour on the phone with him, guiding him to create a My Social Security account on his cell phone.
"To make a change that would have taken minutes previously, and all because a billionaire misled America about fraud in our system,” she said about Elon Musk, the former director of the Department of Government Efficient (DOGE).
In the end, the man wasn’t able to make an account, she said over a megaphone. He told Washington that he would have to find someone to drive him to his local office.
Washington told the story outside the DOC as she and other Social Security employees celebrated the administration’s 90th anniversary Thursday with a rally to demand a fully staffed Social Security to ensure high quality service and timely distribution of benefits.
"My heart broke for this gentleman, and it breaks for every person who's been in this situation, because this case isn't a one off since January," she said. "Our calls have gotten longer. Our cases have gotten more complex. More often than ever, we are forced to tell people ‘I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do.'”
'Social Security Strong'
Almost 69 million Americans rely on Social Security benefits, according to the AP. The agency cut more than 7,000 from its workforce this year as part of DOGE's effort to reduce the size of the government.
About 30 union members and union leaders stood along East Mountain Boulevard holding signs that read “Social Security Strong.”
The rally was one of more than 40 events organized by the Social Security workers union workers and its allies nationwide. National leaders, like Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and Jessica Lapointe, president of AFGE Council 220, stopped in Plains Twp. as part of a bus tour.
"For 90 years, we've kept America's greatest anti-poverty success story alive. We serve widows, orphans, the elderly, disabled, every vulnerable soul in your families and your communities, and they deserve respect and dignity when they come for their earned benefits,” Lapointe said.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act on Aug. 14, 1935.
“We've stewarded your money through 16 different presidents, and we will be damned if we're going to let this one or anyone take it away from us,” said Lapointe.
President Donald Trump released a proclamation Thursday.
"I recommit to always defending Social Security, rewarding the men and women who make our country prosperous, and taking care of our own workers, families, seniors, and citizens first," it reads.
The president said that his administration's efforts made Social Security "stronger and more resilient than ever before."
"To further strengthen Social Security, my Administration is aggressively rooting out all fraud, waste, and abuse that rob our federal programs of resources," the proclamation says.
Lapointe addressed those claims.
"They created a manufactured crisis, claim the agency is beyond repair, busting our unions, replacing skilled federal workers with contractors and artificial intelligence. They want to expose your data and take your $2.7 trillion Social Security surplus and privatize it all," she said.
Staff shortage leads to delays
AFGE Local 2809 covers the employees at the DOC, as well as a small site with 25 employees in Butler County.
The DOC has lost around 14% of its employees through attrition said Barri Sue Bryant, president of the local. They had around 1,100 employees, now the number is in the high 900s.
The DOC is the only social security facility in the country staffed for three shifts.
"We're answering from California. We're answering from Hawaii. We're answering from the Midwest. We answer here at the DOC for all of the time zones,” said Brenda Oxford, one of the employees.
Nobody has technically lost their job, Bryant added. Employees have left and others have taken retirement incentives.
"They bought them all out under threat of losing their job,” she said.
The DOC has extremely great employees who are concerned about not only getting their work done but also done appropriately, Bryant said.
"We have not missed a payment. We have performed and paid out benefits for 90 full years. We need to be able to continue to do that," she said. "We need to be able to continue to answer the phone and be able to help them and not just refer them somewhere else or tell them they need an appointment. We take care of the most vulnerable and they need we need to be accessible to them.”
Low morale, long hours
Oxford works from 4 to 12:30 p.m. She answers phones until after 11 at night. Then she has to respond to emails.
"It's been hard. It's been a transition. It's been low morale outside of it, affecting me at home and my home life,” she said of the last seven months.
She hears from people that they are waiting an extensive amount of time for claims. Retirement claims are taking 90 days or longer.
"Disability claims are backlogged, so people are calling to constantly check the status and see if there's been a change,” Oxford said.
Because of the staff cuts, they are working overtime on the week and on weekends.
"I don't see how that equates to savings? I think it equates to burnout, because we just don't have enough people to get in front of this workload,” she said.
Oxford said to work in social security you have to have a good morale and compassion.
“People call us when their life changes … We help people,” she said.
Oxford describes herself as a service driven person. Helping people keeps her going.
"But when my hands are tied or we're not receiving the support that we feel we should be receiving. It makes our job a little bit more challenging,” she said.
