Posts tagged Retirement
Report: Illinois has 5th highest amount of post-employment benefit liabilities
February 7, 2024 // Nationwide, current unfunded state OPEB liabilities are more than $1.14 trillion, or roughly $3,500 for every American man, woman and child. Only four states have a higher amount than Illinois, including Texas, New York, California and New Jersey. Two states, Nebraska and South Dakota, have zero liabilities after implementing defined contribution health care benefits. “OPEB liabilities in many cases are much different than pension liabilities because they are not protected by state constitutions or by contract law,” said Williams. OPEB plans have worse overall funding ratios than state pension plans. With an average funding ratio of merely 13.46%, many have no pre-funded assets whatsoever, allowing liabilities to grow rapidly year over year.
Adrian nurses holding ‘practice strike’ say it’s ‘last chance ProMedica has to come to their senses’ in contract negotiations
February 2, 2024 // MNA is demanding a few key items in the next contract, including higher wages, no two-tier retirement system and smaller staffing-to-patient ratios. According to the union, the highest wage a nurse can make is around $42/hour. They want that to be more than $50/hour. The union also said ProMedica wants new hires to have a different retirement plan than current nurses.
UAW President: If corporations won’t pay for pensions, taxpayers must
January 23, 2024 // "We have to take the issues that matter to the working class and poor, and we have to make our political leaders stand up with us," Fain said during his opening remarks. "Our message in doing this is simple: Support our cause, or you will not get our endorsement." Fain described political activism as an extension of the gains the union obtained this fall in its new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers. The new pacts delivered record wage hikes, resumed cost-of-living adjustments, obtained improvements to retirement packages and other benefits and secured billions of dollars in investments. The union, however, was unsuccessful in delivering its demand to secure pensions and post-retirement health care for all 146,000 autoworkers. Those hired after 2007 have 401(k)s with matching contributions that were upped in the latest round of negotiations. Analysts have estimated the union's demand would cost billions of dollars.
Former Law Enforcement Union Officials Sentenced To Prison For Defrauding Union’s Annuity Fund
January 19, 2024 // U.S. Attorney Damian William said: “Kenneth Wynder and Andrew Brown raided union-sponsored retirement accounts for years, placing their self interest over the hard-working public servants they represented as the president and financial advisor of the union, respectively. Wynder also evaded taxes on cash, checks, and other income he obtained from the union, including as a product of their theft from the union members’ retirement accounts. Union officials and advisors who violate their duties to the union members they represent will face serious consequences for their abuse of trust.”
UAW secures nearly $8M in back pay
December 13, 2023 // According to a July 2022 letter, also on the UAW’s website, the union was informed that month an arbitrator determined GM violated its national agreement with the union when it closed the plants; the decision, the letter states, was an “important victory.” It states as a result of GM’s breach, the arbitrator found that certain members who kept working with the company at other locations, but experienced some period of layoff were entitled to be made whole. The award does not resolve an issue over mutually satisfied retirement for members the arbitrator previously found was not subject to arbitration, but the Dec. 5 letter states “we continue to fight for MSR’s for all eligible members.”
Wisconsin’s Anti-Union Model Faces Reckoning as Top Court Shifts
December 12, 2023 // “They’ve been trying to overturn it through the legislature and the ballot box and have been wholly unsuccessful,” said Brett Healy, president of the conservative John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, which estimates Act 10 has saved taxpayers $16.8 billion as of this year. Act 10 also made it easier for school districts to fire low-performing teachers and retain good ones, said Walker, now president of the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative activist organization for youth. The former governor pointed to the state’s standardized test scores and graduation rates, which typically meet or exceed national averages. “We’ve seen tremendous success,” Walker added. “All the attacks they said at the time, how this would devastate schools, proved be just that—attacks. They don’t match reality.”
Southwest, American Airlines passengers face looming winter woes
November 28, 2023 // "We're behind the industry in every area you can think of in our contract. So we're asking for quite a bit. Obviously, wages, retirement, disability. One of the big pillars that other airlines didn't have a huge issue with, but we do, is our scheduling system," Santoro said.
Ford workers join those at GM in approving contract settlement that ended UAW strikes
November 20, 2023 // The United Auto Workers union overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with Ford, a pact that, along with similar deals with General Motors and Stellantis, will raise pay across the industry, force automakers to absorb higher costs and help reshape the auto business as it shifts away from gasoline-fueled vehicles. Workers at Ford voted 69.3% in favor of the pact, which passed with nearly a 15,000-vote margin in balloting that ended early Saturday. Earlier this week, GM workers narrowly approved a similar contract. At Stellantis, 68.7% of workers favored ratification, an insurmountable lead with votes at only two small facilities left to be counted.
UAW and Ford reach tentative deal to end strike
October 26, 2023 // The Ford deal includes the biggest contract wins the UAW has secured in years, including a 25 percent hike in base wages through April 2028, the union said. The agreement provides cost-of-living adjustments to wages that will help raise the top hourly wage by over 30 percent to more than $40 by the end of the contract, union officials said. The starting hourly wage will grow to more than $28. The deal also shortens the time it takes new workers to reach the top wage, and eliminates wage tiers that left newer workers on a lower pay scale, the UAW said. It also boosts Ford’s contribution to retirement accounts.
Workers at Mack Trucks set to strike after rejecting tentative contract deal
October 9, 2023 // Union workers at Mack Trucks have voted down a tentative five-year contract agreement reached with the company and plan to strike at 7 a.m. Monday, the United Auto Workers union says. Union President Shawn Fain said in a letter to Mack parent company Volvo Trucks that 73% of workers voted against the deal in results counted on Sunday. The UAW represents about 4,000 Mack workers in three states. Union leaders had reached a tentative agreement on the deal on Oct. 1. The deal included a 19% pay raise over the life of the contract with 10% upon ratification. There also was a $3,500 ratification bonus, no increase in weekly health care contributions, increased annual lump sum payments for retirees and a $1,000 annual 401(k) lump sum to offset health care costs for employees who don’t get health insurance after retirement. Fain said in his letter to Volvo Trucks’ head of labor relations that employees working early Monday will exit the factories after performing tasks needed to prevent damage to company equipment.