Overspeed
Veteran
- Jun 27, 2011
- 3,245
- 1,120
Oh now isn't that some BS. A minus one for agreeing? I can't win.-1 for agreeing with Chuck.
Teamsters shrinking pension
- Thread starter Chuck Schalk
- Start date
- Thread Starter
- #17
mark this on your calendars, overspeed and I actually agree on something!
then there is tomorrow
IBT Backs Plan to Allow Some Pension Cuts
The Hoffa administration has signed on to a joint employer-union proposal to allow "deeply troubled" pension funds to slash accrued benefits, even for Teamsters who have already retired.
This proposal, which could be aimed squarely at the Teamster Central States Fund, comes from the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans, a committee of employers, unions and pension plans.
UPS is a prominent member of the group, which also includes several pension funds, employer groups, and some unions.
The group's proposal is to change federal law to allow "deeply troubled" plans, those in danger of going insolvent in the next 20 years, to drastically slash benefits.
These Pension Funds could slash benefits to as low as just 10% above the guaranteed rate set by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. For a retiree with 30 credit years, that rate is currently less than $1100 per month!
If new legislation along these lines is approved, the Central States Fund could eventually slash pensions by over 50%. Under present law, that kind of cut in accrued benefits is illegal.
The Teamsters Union, the Central States Fund and the Western Conference of Teamsters Fund have joined with employers and some other unions to back this proposal.
The justification is to avoid having pension funds go insolvent down the road. This is a worthy goal but the only "solution" put forward is to slash earned pensions.
Solutions Not Bailouts is the title of the full report issued by the pension committee. Many of its proposals are positive and reasonable. But the central proposal could be a dagger to tens of thousands of Central States Teamsters.
Consider the case of Greg Smith, an Ohio Teamster who retired from YRC after 29.5 years with a monthly pension of $3019.
If Central States goes bankrupt, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation would pay Smith a monthly pension of about $1100.
The "alternative" being backed by the Teamsters would allow the Central States to cut Smith's pension to as low as $1210!
"Our union should be fighting for legislation that protects our pensions. We all know that Central States is in trouble. No one expects miracles. But the whole point of having a union is to fight for a square deal. This is just a surrender," Smith said.
It's not too late for the Teamsters Union to change course. The pension proposal is in its early stages. But Teamster members and retirees need to make their voices heard.
Millions of workers, retirees and our families depend on union pensions. Our union should be working other unions and seniors' groups to increase PBGC protections for our pensions, not backing legislation so our own union pension funds can sock it to us. That's not a bailout, it's just common sense.
----------------------------------------------------------
In the above article, para #7 really stood out to me.
Para #7-- The Teamsters Union, the Central States Fund and the Western Conference of Teamsters Fund have joined with employers and some other unions to back this proposal.
"some other unions" Who are these other unions? We need to post who these other unions are. Can anyone find this out, any and all unions that are just agreeing to do this this much damage to union members pensions need to be brought out in the lime lite just as the teamsters have been. I would be willing to bet that the majority of the unions are catch all industrial unions...
The Hoffa administration has signed on to a joint employer-union proposal to allow "deeply troubled" pension funds to slash accrued benefits, even for Teamsters who have already retired.
This proposal, which could be aimed squarely at the Teamster Central States Fund, comes from the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans, a committee of employers, unions and pension plans.
UPS is a prominent member of the group, which also includes several pension funds, employer groups, and some unions.
The group's proposal is to change federal law to allow "deeply troubled" plans, those in danger of going insolvent in the next 20 years, to drastically slash benefits.
These Pension Funds could slash benefits to as low as just 10% above the guaranteed rate set by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. For a retiree with 30 credit years, that rate is currently less than $1100 per month!
If new legislation along these lines is approved, the Central States Fund could eventually slash pensions by over 50%. Under present law, that kind of cut in accrued benefits is illegal.
The Teamsters Union, the Central States Fund and the Western Conference of Teamsters Fund have joined with employers and some other unions to back this proposal.
The justification is to avoid having pension funds go insolvent down the road. This is a worthy goal but the only "solution" put forward is to slash earned pensions.
Solutions Not Bailouts is the title of the full report issued by the pension committee. Many of its proposals are positive and reasonable. But the central proposal could be a dagger to tens of thousands of Central States Teamsters.
Consider the case of Greg Smith, an Ohio Teamster who retired from YRC after 29.5 years with a monthly pension of $3019.
If Central States goes bankrupt, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation would pay Smith a monthly pension of about $1100.
The "alternative" being backed by the Teamsters would allow the Central States to cut Smith's pension to as low as $1210!
"Our union should be fighting for legislation that protects our pensions. We all know that Central States is in trouble. No one expects miracles. But the whole point of having a union is to fight for a square deal. This is just a surrender," Smith said.
It's not too late for the Teamsters Union to change course. The pension proposal is in its early stages. But Teamster members and retirees need to make their voices heard.
Millions of workers, retirees and our families depend on union pensions. Our union should be working other unions and seniors' groups to increase PBGC protections for our pensions, not backing legislation so our own union pension funds can sock it to us. That's not a bailout, it's just common sense.
----------------------------------------------------------
In the above article, para #7 really stood out to me.
Para #7-- The Teamsters Union, the Central States Fund and the Western Conference of Teamsters Fund have joined with employers and some other unions to back this proposal.
"some other unions" Who are these other unions? We need to post who these other unions are. Can anyone find this out, any and all unions that are just agreeing to do this this much damage to union members pensions need to be brought out in the lime lite just as the teamsters have been. I would be willing to bet that the majority of the unions are catch all industrial unions...
Good Seniority Article;
http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/164186/Aviation/Seniority+Integration+And+The+MccaskillBond+Statute
http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/164186/Aviation/Seniority+Integration+And+The+MccaskillBond+Statute
comatose
Senior
Oh, but I know how to F it up more than the IBT.
Let the TWU get their greedy little hands on it.
Talk about corporate types.
If I see you on the floor soon it won't be union business or work but rather alcohol.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323916304578402860488523342.html
WSJ April 4, 2013
Teamsters promise a lot, but actually deliver less than Little.
WSJ April 4, 2013
Teamsters promise a lot, but actually deliver less than Little.
- Thread Starter
- #22
Teamster Power.......Think again
teamster fluff, sounds like the same TWU fluff
By MICHAEL CORKERY
Some companies are pushing to withdraw their workers from a giant Teamsters pension plan that faces a deep funding shortfall and questions about its long-term viability.
Investment losses during the financial crisis and hard times for trucking companies that pay into the Teamsters' Central States Funds have sapped the fund of money it uses to pay promised benefits.
Republic Services workers picket in January in Memphis, Tenn. The company has pulled some employees from a Teamsters pension plan over solvency fears.
With just 60 cents of assets for every $1 in obligations, the Teamsters pension fund is considered in "critical" status by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal agency that backstops failed pensions.
Central States has about $18 billion in assets, ranking it the nation's second-largest multiemployer pension plan. Such funds get contributions from numerous companies.
The Teamsters pension fund pools money from about 1,900 companies, and its investments have been overseen by advisers jointly approved by representatives for union and management.
Recent efforts by Republic Services Inc. RSG -0.37% to pull out about 800 sanitation workers from Central States show the uphill battle facing a pension plan founded by the late Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa.
Last week, Republic Services finalized deals with three local Teamster unions in Michigan to move out of Central States to a better-funded Teamster-run plan. Food service distributor Sysco Corp. SYY +0.03% removed its last Teamster unit from Central States in January.
"There is a reasonable possibility that this plan could run out of money in about a dozen years," Central States Executive Director Thomas Nyhan said in an interview.
More companies leaving the fund "accelerates insolvency," Mr. Nyhan said.
Central States illustrates a potential nightmare scenario for workers across the U.S.: a pension plan that is at risk of running out of money, leading to possible benefit cuts and putting strain on the federal agency that would assume the pension's liabilities.
"Our employees who participate in this failing pension fund and our Company deserve better," Catharine Ellingsen, senior vice president of human resources at Republic, said in a statement. "We intend to use all legal means at our disposal to exit Central States."
Union spokeswoman Leigh Strope said Republic is using the pension fund as a "smokescreen" to obscure what the union sees as separate problems at Republic.
She declined to comment on the financial condition of Central States, which is run independently of the union.
For decades, U.S. companies have shut down their traditional pension plans and moved workers to less generous 401(k) retirement accounts. In some cities, Republic has proposed replacing traditional pensions provided by Central States with 401(k) accounts.
The union's pension plan was founded by Jimmy Hoffa. Above, Hoffa in 1964.
"Pensions are a huge selling point for a union," says Ken Paff, national organizer of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a group that opposes the Teamsters' leadership.
"If you take that away, you hurt the union's ability to organize workers," he said.
The price for exiting from the fund is steep. Republic estimates it must pay a "withdrawal liability" of as much as $146 million to cover the company's share of Central States' unfunded liability.
This amount could go up if the company stays in the plan and the funding level deteriorates.
Mr. Nyhan said he offered Republic protections that would eliminate future increases in the company's withdrawal liability. Other companies in the fund have adopted such measures, he said, but Republic rejected them.
Ms. Ellingsen said Republic's "employees only stand to gain in benefits by getting out of a pension fund that is going insolvent."
After investments losses from the tech bust in 2002, Central States cut retirement benefits and increased contributions from employers to shore up its funding level.
Heading into the financial crisis, Central States' had just received $6.1 billion that United Parcel Service Inc. UPS -0.16% paid in exchange for letting the company's employees out of the fund.
At the time, Central States had a large bet on the stock market—about 66% of its assets, according to Mr. Nyhan; the median stock allocation among multiemployer funds back then was 54%, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS +0.49% and Northern Trust Corp. NTRS -1.07% were the pension fund's appointed fiduciaries responsible for picking money managers and setting asset allocations.
Since the recession, Central States' assets have dipped to $18 billion, from $27 billion in late 2007.
Goldman resigned from the pension plan in 2010 because the "mandate no longer fit with the company's business model," a person familiar with the bank's position said. Northern Trust is still a fiduciary, but the firm didn't respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Nyhan said he doesn't blame the banks for the steep losses. He said the fund needed to boost its returns with big stock allocations "because of the underfunded nature of the plan."
The pension plan pays about $2.8 billion in benefits a year but takes in only about $700 million in employer contributions. "You have to make up the rest with investment returns,'' said Mr. Nyhan, which he thinks is unlikely over the long term.
The recession also hurt some of the fund's largest companies, which meant smaller contributions into Central States.
Hostess Brands stopped making payments altogether, and the bankrupt maker of Twinkies owes Central States a $583 million withdrawal liability, according to pension-fund documents. A Hostess representative wasn't immediately able to comment on any pending balance.
If Central States can't afford to pay out benefits and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has to step in, some Teamster pensions would be slashed.
Under that scenario, Dave Scheidt, a retired dock loader from Kansas City, Kan., estimates his pension check would go from about $3,000 to $1,100 a month, based on federal guarantee rules.
"There are a lot of guys counting on these pensions," he says.
Write to Michael Corkery at [email protected]
teamster fluff, sounds like the same TWU fluff
-
April 4, 2013
By MICHAEL CORKERY
Some companies are pushing to withdraw their workers from a giant Teamsters pension plan that faces a deep funding shortfall and questions about its long-term viability.
Investment losses during the financial crisis and hard times for trucking companies that pay into the Teamsters' Central States Funds have sapped the fund of money it uses to pay promised benefits.
Republic Services workers picket in January in Memphis, Tenn. The company has pulled some employees from a Teamsters pension plan over solvency fears.
With just 60 cents of assets for every $1 in obligations, the Teamsters pension fund is considered in "critical" status by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal agency that backstops failed pensions.
Central States has about $18 billion in assets, ranking it the nation's second-largest multiemployer pension plan. Such funds get contributions from numerous companies.
The Teamsters pension fund pools money from about 1,900 companies, and its investments have been overseen by advisers jointly approved by representatives for union and management.
Recent efforts by Republic Services Inc. RSG -0.37% to pull out about 800 sanitation workers from Central States show the uphill battle facing a pension plan founded by the late Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa.
Last week, Republic Services finalized deals with three local Teamster unions in Michigan to move out of Central States to a better-funded Teamster-run plan. Food service distributor Sysco Corp. SYY +0.03% removed its last Teamster unit from Central States in January.
"There is a reasonable possibility that this plan could run out of money in about a dozen years," Central States Executive Director Thomas Nyhan said in an interview.
More companies leaving the fund "accelerates insolvency," Mr. Nyhan said.
Central States illustrates a potential nightmare scenario for workers across the U.S.: a pension plan that is at risk of running out of money, leading to possible benefit cuts and putting strain on the federal agency that would assume the pension's liabilities.
"Our employees who participate in this failing pension fund and our Company deserve better," Catharine Ellingsen, senior vice president of human resources at Republic, said in a statement. "We intend to use all legal means at our disposal to exit Central States."
Union spokeswoman Leigh Strope said Republic is using the pension fund as a "smokescreen" to obscure what the union sees as separate problems at Republic.
She declined to comment on the financial condition of Central States, which is run independently of the union.
For decades, U.S. companies have shut down their traditional pension plans and moved workers to less generous 401(k) retirement accounts. In some cities, Republic has proposed replacing traditional pensions provided by Central States with 401(k) accounts.
The union's pension plan was founded by Jimmy Hoffa. Above, Hoffa in 1964.
"Pensions are a huge selling point for a union," says Ken Paff, national organizer of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a group that opposes the Teamsters' leadership.
"If you take that away, you hurt the union's ability to organize workers," he said.
The price for exiting from the fund is steep. Republic estimates it must pay a "withdrawal liability" of as much as $146 million to cover the company's share of Central States' unfunded liability.
This amount could go up if the company stays in the plan and the funding level deteriorates.
Mr. Nyhan said he offered Republic protections that would eliminate future increases in the company's withdrawal liability. Other companies in the fund have adopted such measures, he said, but Republic rejected them.
Ms. Ellingsen said Republic's "employees only stand to gain in benefits by getting out of a pension fund that is going insolvent."
After investments losses from the tech bust in 2002, Central States cut retirement benefits and increased contributions from employers to shore up its funding level.
Heading into the financial crisis, Central States' had just received $6.1 billion that United Parcel Service Inc. UPS -0.16% paid in exchange for letting the company's employees out of the fund.
At the time, Central States had a large bet on the stock market—about 66% of its assets, according to Mr. Nyhan; the median stock allocation among multiemployer funds back then was 54%, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS +0.49% and Northern Trust Corp. NTRS -1.07% were the pension fund's appointed fiduciaries responsible for picking money managers and setting asset allocations.
Since the recession, Central States' assets have dipped to $18 billion, from $27 billion in late 2007.
Goldman resigned from the pension plan in 2010 because the "mandate no longer fit with the company's business model," a person familiar with the bank's position said. Northern Trust is still a fiduciary, but the firm didn't respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Nyhan said he doesn't blame the banks for the steep losses. He said the fund needed to boost its returns with big stock allocations "because of the underfunded nature of the plan."
The pension plan pays about $2.8 billion in benefits a year but takes in only about $700 million in employer contributions. "You have to make up the rest with investment returns,'' said Mr. Nyhan, which he thinks is unlikely over the long term.
The recession also hurt some of the fund's largest companies, which meant smaller contributions into Central States.
Hostess Brands stopped making payments altogether, and the bankrupt maker of Twinkies owes Central States a $583 million withdrawal liability, according to pension-fund documents. A Hostess representative wasn't immediately able to comment on any pending balance.
If Central States can't afford to pay out benefits and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has to step in, some Teamster pensions would be slashed.
Under that scenario, Dave Scheidt, a retired dock loader from Kansas City, Kan., estimates his pension check would go from about $3,000 to $1,100 a month, based on federal guarantee rules.
"There are a lot of guys counting on these pensions," he says.
Write to Michael Corkery at [email protected]
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