At the Cooper Tire plant in Findlay, Ohio, Jack Hartley, who is 58, works a 12-hour shift assembling tires: pulling piles of rubber and lining over a drum, cutting the material with a hot knife, lifting the half-finished tire, which weighs 10 to 20 pounds, and throwing it onto a rack.<\/p>\n
Mr. Hartley performs these steps nearly 30 times an hour, or 300 times in a shift. \u201cThe pain started about the time I was 50,\u201d\u009d he said. \u201cDessert with lunch is ibuprofen. Your knees start going bad, your lower back, your elbows, your shoulders.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
He said he does not think he can last until age 66, when he will be eligible for full Social Security retirement benefits. At 62 or 65, he said, \u201cthat\u2019s it.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
After years of debate about how to keep Social Security solvent, the White House has created an 18-member panel to consider changes, including raising the retirement age….<\/p>\n