Mar 2010 Vol. 13 No. 3

Pension reallocation wins 90% approval

Even as the ballots were being sorted the outcome became clear, as this stack of ballots from Local 405 demonstrates.

The pension reallocation proposal that will preserve key benefits of our pension plan has been approved by a record 90.5% of the members. Almost 6,300 members cast a ballot, which is also a recent record, almost a thousand more than voted on the last contract.

A Tally Committee appointed by Executive Officer Bob Alvarado met on Friday, March 5th and opened, sorted and counted the ballots. The Committee, consisting of elected Financial Secretaries from around the Council, could tell right away that the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of allocating more money to the pension.

The votes were sorted by local (see chart on page 3) and every local union strongly approved of the proposal. In fact, only one local gave the proposal less than an 80% approval rate, and a couple of locals cast more than 95% of their votes in favor of the reallocation. Several members took the time to write a note on or with their ballot, and those will be shared with Executive Officer Alvarado.

This vote means future wage and pension increases will be reallocated as follows and allows the Alternative Option Rehabilitation Plan to be enacted. Here is a summary of the impact of this vote:

This reallocation will increase the monthly benefit you will receive as seen in the table below.

Financial Secretaries Leonard Ramos, Local 713 (on left) and Ned Van Valkenburgh, Local 505 count ballots. The Committee also included Robert Baldini, Local 405; David Imus, Local 1618; Michael Leong, Local 46; Ruben Lopez, Local 2236; Ken Maderazo, Local 180; Ralph Rubio, Local 605; and Tom Quinn, Local 152. Bill Feyling, Executive Director of the 46 Counties Conference Board, assisted the Committee in counting the votes.

More importantly for many members, this reallocation preserves the “30 and out” Service Pension. It also protects other Early Retiree Benefits, and maintains the opportunity to take an unreduced pension at age 62. The reallocation was necessary to create a Rehabilitation Plan to satisfy the Pension Protection Act of 2006 requirements for Red Zone Plans. We continue to lobby Washington for Pension relief that will address financial concerns facing many pension plans across the country created by the recent economy. Whether or not there is legislative relief, the rehabilitation plan adopted is intended to protect the financial strength of the Pension Fund and our Fund will continue to be closely monitored. The results of future funding certifications will be provided to members each year.

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