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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2018)
PAGE 8 | October 5, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Portland bricklayers union featured in the New York Times Portland-based Bricklayers Lo- cal 1 got some well-deserved press last month. An article about the opioid addiction epi- demic in the Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 edition of the New York Times said many employers are looking the other way as worker spiral downward. But not Local 1 business manager Matt Eleazer. Eleazer has intervened to help several members strug- gling with addiction, including one featured in the story. “We go through the process together,” said Eleazer, who works closely with a union- sponsored membership assis- tance program. “They’ll call me every single day.… If some- body has a problem like that, it’s a family problem,” Eleazer told the Labor Press. “And we’re their family.” Workers Overdose, and Em- ployers Struggle to Respond Read the article online at https://nyti.ms/2OL9lKm Authorized and paid by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Portland, Oregon RETIREMENT Despite lopsided ‘no’ vote, Western States OPEIU cuts retiree benefits to halt slide to insolvency As of Oct. 1, pension benefits will be cut as much as 30 percent for retired members of Office and Professional Employees In- ternational Union (OPEIU) who worked in the Western United States — even though the pro- posal to make the cuts was re- jected by a majority of partici- pants who voted on the question. Cutting pension benefits for current and future retirees is a new option for trustees at union- sponsored multi-employer pen- sions that are severely under- funded and running out of money. Under the 2014 Multi- employer Pension Reform Act (MPRA), trustees can cut cur- rent and future benefits if the cuts can stop the slide to insol- vency and still leave benefits at least 10 percent above what re- tirees would have gotten in case of default from the Pension Ben- efit Guaranty Fund, the feder- ally-sponsored pension insurer. The benefits can’t be cut for those over 80, and are propor- tionally less for those 75 to 80. Under MPRA, cuts proposals go before pension plan partici- pants for a vote, but can only be stopped if a majority of the total participants vote to reject them — NOT just a majority of those voting. MORE INFO ABOUT THE CUTS wspensionrecovery.com At the Western States OPEIU Pension Fund, ballots were mailed to all 7,232 participants on Aug. 20 and were due back Sept. 7. A total of 2,326 partici- pants voted against the cuts, while 920 voted in favor of the cuts. That meant the cuts were opposed by 72 percent of those voting, but only 32 percent of the total participants. Because the 3,986 participants who didn’t return ballots were counted as de facto “yes” votes, the cuts were approved. Opponents would have needed another 1,300 “no” votes to reach a majority. The Western States fund pro- vides retirement benefits to cur- rent and former members of nine western union locals of Of- fice and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU)— mostly clerical staff at labor unions and defunct or no-longer- unionized trucking companies. Without the cuts, the fund was forecast to run out of money al- together in 2036. Nationwide, five other pen- sions have held votes on benefit cuts under these rules so far, and the cuts have gone through de- spite majority opposition of those voting in four of those five. So far, Alaska Ironworkers Pen- sion Plan is the one exception: Its proposed benefit cut of 26.5 percent was supported by 55 percent of those casting ballots. As many as 100 union-spon- sored multi-employer pension plans are headed for insolvency, but only 23 have so applied for permission to save themselves by making cuts. Of those, seven cuts have been approved, 10 are under review, two were with- drawn, and four were rejected by the U.S. Treasury Department. PENSION CUT VOTES SO FAR Ironworkers Local 16 Pension Voting against: 352 | Voting for: 144 Ballots not returned: 542 Alaska Ironworkers Pension Plan Voting against: 142 | Voting for: 175 Ballots not returned: 507 Machinists Motor City Pension Voting against: 371 | Voting for: 126 Ballots not returned: 714 NY Teamsters Conference Pension Voting against: 9,788 | Voting for: 4,081 Ballots not returned: 20,767 United Furniture Workers Pension Voting against: 1,928 | Voting for: 1,041 Ballots not returned: 6,304
