SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
VOLUME 116, NUMBER 9
INSIDE
Union Density
Union meetings
Free classifieds
In memoriam
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6
10
11
PORTLAND, OREGON
FEBRUARY 6, 2015
Big change to law on union pensions
Pensioners could share the pain
under a new law that lets
trustees cut benefits to make
plans solvent
Mascots of McDonald’s and Walmart called on their respective companies to
pay their workers $15 an hour during a Oregon Needs a Raise rally Jan. 24 at
the State Capitol in Salem. The rally drew large support from labor unions.
Unions join rally for
$15 minimum wage
SALEM — Union members
were among the several hundred
workers rallying at the State
Capitol Jan. 24 for a $15 state
minimum wage. The event was
organized by 15 Now Oregon,
but it had strong backing from
more than a dozen unions.
The Oregon AFL-CIO and
most labor unions in the state
have endorsed the push to make
Oregon the first state to enact a
$15 minimum wage.
Democrats who control the
Oregon Legislature (and the
governor’s office) will consider
several bills that would gradu-
ally raise the minimum wage,
which currently is $9.25 an
hour. One bill would increase
the minimum wage to $15 an
hour by 2018. Another bill
would raise it to $12.20 by
2017, then adjust it for inflation
after that. Also on the docket is
a bill to repeal the preemption
law that prevents cities and
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NW Labor Press gets a makeover
With this issue, the Northwest Labor Press is launching a
new page design. We value tradition, but we also felt overdue
for a new look. The previous design had been in place with
only minor changes since 1993.
We think the new design makes better use of our space, has
a more internally consistent look, and is more engaging visu-
ally. We’ve also increased the point size slightly, and we think
you’ll find it easier to read.
In case there are any journeyman design nerds reading this:
The new design uses the Myriad font family for display ele-
ments, and Times, the old standby, for body text (at 10 pt size,
with 11 pt leading).
The paper conforms to tabloid dimensions (11”x14”) and is
printed on recycled paper using soy-based inks by members of
Graphic Communications Conference/Teamsters Local 747-
M at Rotary Offset Press in Kent, Washington.
We hope you like the new look. And we welcome your feed-
back and suggestions.
Drop us a line at editor@nwlaborpress.org.
By Don McIntosh
Associate Editor
A new law passed by Congress
in December could affect more
than one million union workers
and retirees who are covered by
union-sponsored multi-em-
ployer pension plans. The law,
which is now in effect, allows
the trustees of severely dis-
tressed pension plans to reduce
benefits for current and future
retirees — if doing so can save
the plan from future insolvency.
Plans that are allowed to cut
benefits are those that are fore-
casted to run out of money
within 15 years (or 20 years if
they have more than twice as
many retirees as active workers).
There are restrictions on the
cuts: Benefits can’t be cut at all
for retirees aged 80 or over, or
who are receiving a disability
pension, and retirees ages 75 to
79 are subject to smaller cuts
than those under 75. And when
trustees reduce benefits, they are
required to do so first for those
whose employers went out of
business or otherwise withdrew
from the plan without paying all
of their obligations, before they
reduce the benefits of any other
plan participants.
Trustees can’t cut benefits
more than the amount needed to
prevent insolvency. And no ben-
efits can be cut below 110 per-
cent of the amount guaranteed
by the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC), the self-
funded federal agency that in-
sures pensions. That amount is
pretty low to begin with. When
PBGC gets involved in an insol-
vent multi-employer pension
plan, its maximum benefit, for a
retiree with 30 years of service,
is only $1,072.50 a month, or
$12,870 a year.
Before trustees can reduce
promised benefits, they have to
inform all plan members, and
hold a vote. The proposed cuts
can be rejected, but only by a
“no” vote of a majority of plan
participants (active, inactive
vested, and retired), not just a
majority of those voting. And
even if a majority of participants
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THE DISAPPEARING STRIKE
2014 had the second fewest
strikes since record-keeping
began in 1947
By Don McIntosh
Associate Editor
Nine. That’s the total number
of work stoppages last year
that involved over 1,000 U.S.
workers. It’s the second-low-
est level ever recorded since
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics (BLS) began keeping
track in 1947. The record —
thus far — was set in 2009,
when just five work stop-
pages of over 1,000 workers
took place.
Looking back over the last
67 years, this data set tells a
story — of the near total dis-
appearance of the strike. In
the 1950s, there were an av-
erage of 352 large-scale work
stoppages a year. In the 1960s
and 1970s, the rate slowed
only slightly – to an average
of 286 a year. The peak was
1952, when 2.7 million
workers took part in 470
large-scale work stoppages.
But the last truly big strike
year was 1974, and you can
see the numbers plummet af-
ter 1981. That’s the year
President Ronald Reagan
fired 11,345 air traffic con-
trollers for violating a prohi-
bition on strikes by federal
employees. Since 1981, there
have never been more than
100 large work stoppages a
year, and the number contin-
ues to ratchet down. Since
1989, there have been fewer
than 50 work stoppages a
year; since 2000, fewer than
30; and since 2007, fewer
than 20. BLS uses the term
“work stoppages” to include
both strikes by workers and
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