Posts tagged Pension
Opinion Project labor agreements are not right for Prince George’s new schools
July 10, 2023 // A debate has arisen over the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on the construction of six new schools in Prince George’s County. But PLAs, which require union construction crews, are not the solution for Prince George’s County. PLAs are government mandates that exist exclusively as a method for public officials to steer tax dollars to organized labor. Most local businesses, particularly those owned by racial minorities, cannot work on projects covered by PLAs. These businesses risk financial ruin in the form of exorbitant pension withdrawal liabilities by agreeing to the terms of PLAs. Consider the case of a trucking company in New Jersey that unwittingly agreed to work on a PLA project and, years later, was hit with a demand from the union’s pension fund for $700,000 — more than twice what the company earned on the project.
Commentary: To Unions, Organizing Time Is Fine When It’s on the Taxpayers’ Dime
June 29, 2023 // Despite public sector unions, and particularly teachers’ unions like Weingarten’s American Federation for Teachers, facing mounting scrutiny for their role in school closures and broader left-wing political activism, the practice of release time has garnered little attention.
Terms regarding FedEx pilot strike detailed in tentative agreement between union and company
June 15, 2023 // Specifically, a 30 percent pay increase, a 30 percent increase to the pilots' legacy pension and a fully developed and "equally valuable company-funded" market based cash balance pension to provide a "durable" replacement for their legacy pension are part of the terms. ALPA said that to date, this is the largest investment in a pilot contract on a per capita bases and it "substantially raises the bar" when it comes to pilot retirement. “After careful consideration and thorough debate, our union leaders recognized the value this agreement will bring to our pilots and their families,” said MEC chair captain Chris Norman. “Now, we shift our focus to ensuring our pilots have the time and resources needed to make an informed decision.”
Potential UPS strike approaches as company negotiates with union
May 29, 2023 // Tensions are rising as the potential for delivery truck drivers going on strike inches closer. UPS has until Aug. 1 to make a deal with the driver's union before they walk.
A Mandate for Labor Error: Big Labor Radicalizes
May 25, 2023 // s for claims by some conservatives that embracing unions will drive electoral success, these notions arise from populist factions’ overinterpretation of the 2016 election results and under-interpretation of elections since then. Many note that in his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump’s efforts in the upper Midwest states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania were aided by his moderate stances on economic issues relative to the positions of prior Republican candidates like Mitt Romney. And this is generally true—but not on labor-relations issues.
AFT PRESIDENT RANDI WEINGARTEN QUALIFIED FOR PUBLIC PENSION FOR YEARS SPENT OUT OF THE CLASSROOM ON UNION LEAVE
May 17, 2023 // AFT president Randi Weingarten’s teaching experience is very limited. While she describes having worked as a New York City public school teacher for six years, she only worked as a regularly appointed full-time teacher for three years, after having spent three years as a per diem substitute. Documents recently obtained by the Freedom Foundation show that Weingarten has been on union leave from her teaching position for the past quarter century. Additional documents show that the Teacher Retirement System of the City of New York has credited Weingarten with nearly 11-and-a-half years of service credit for time spent out of the classroom on full-time union leave as an officer for the United Federation of Teachers.
Public Employee: My union did not represent my interests
May 2, 2023 // “A lot of parole officers are dissatisfied with being a member of PEF,” he said. PEF has not fought to gain access to typical law enforcement benefits for its parole officers. For example, parole officers in PEF do not have the same retirement plan as correction officers or other law enforcement officers, typically called a “twenty-and-out” or “twenty-five-and-out.” Meaning, a law enforcement officer can retire with a full government pension after working twenty or twenty-five years of public service and these plans do not have an age restriction. Meanwhile, parole officers’ retirement plans under PEF require more years of public service and have age restrictions. For example, parole officers either have to work thirty years and retire at age 55 (Tier 4) or work thirty years and retire at age 63 (Tier 6) in order to receive a full retirement pension.
YOUNG WORKERS INCREASINGLY — AND RIGHTFULLY — WARY OF UNIONS
April 28, 2023 // Unions, on the other hand, are notorious for their seniority-based systems, in which benefits and promotions are often based on years of service rather than merit. This can limit opportunities for ambitious young workers who want to excel in their careers based on their own talent and hard work rather than being bound by rigid union rules that prioritize age over performance. Moreover, unions can be a costly undertaking for young workers. Union dues can be expensive, and the burden falls more heavily on those making less. For young workers already struggling with student loans and other financial responsibilities, union dues can further strain their budgets. At the same time, young workers may never have the chance to fully benefit from the services provided by unions, such as pension plans, since they are less likely to stay with a single employer for their entire career.
NEA Keeps Trying to Punish Las Vegas Union for Seceding, and Keeps Failing
April 4, 2023 // CCEA’s staffers belonged to the Employees’ Retirement Plan of the National Education Association, as do most NEA affiliate staffers. When CCEA disaffiliated, it had to also withdraw from NEA’s pension system. The national union then levied a charge for CCEA’s portion of the system’s unfunded liabilities. All of this is normal and proper operating procedure. Where NEA went rogue was in computing that charge. Without getting too far into the weeds, the plan’s actuaries must compute the discount rate — that is, as the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia called it “the rate at which the plan’s assets will grow ‘by the miracle of compound interest’.” The higher the discount rate computed, the less the unfunded liability, and vice versa. The NEA staff pension actuaries computed a discount rate of 5%, and sent CCEA a bill for $3,246,349. The local union thought this excessive and, as required by law, brought the dispute to arbitration.