I failed to re-print this in the last issue:
DP3 Chairman's Update
June 12, 2012
2012 Membership Drive
The
DP3 Trustees want to thank you for your overwhelming response to this year's
membership drive. We understand and share your concern with the snail's pace of
the PBGC process, but want to assure you that we expect our patience to be
rewarded. Our appeal is extremely well written and your trustees are savvy at
managing the process on your behalf. Based on feedback from the PBGC over
recent weeks, we are seeing a validation that our appeal issues are being taken
very seriously by the agency's Appeals Board.
Status of our Appeal
While
the month of May has passed without a decision in our case, on the positive
side the Appeals Board is currently reviewing our request for a formal
hearing-a step rarely taken in past cases. In the meantime, we are closely
following events, and if there is anything substantive to report, we will let
you know immediately.
2012
Trustee Election Results
The
DP3 annual election is now complete and Bill Caiazza, George Leatherbury, and
Roger Ross have been re-elected to three year terms. While we are very pleased
that our fellow board members agreed to serve another term, unfortunately,
during the past two annual elections we have only been able to field three
candidates to run for the three positions up for election each year.
Proposed Bylaw Change
Therefore,
during our May trustee meeting, the trustees unanimously voted to modify the
DP3 by-laws to allow us to operate with less than nine, but no fewer than five
trustees, whenever we are unable to fill all nine trustee positions with
qualified volunteers. As a reminder, our bylaws are posted on the DP3 website
and we will advise you once the revised bylaws reflecting this change have been
posted.
The Soaring Eagles Case against PBGC
There
has been a recent decision in the USAIR case issued by a visiting judge
assigned to help work off the DC Circuit Court case load. We have been advised
that the USAIR pilots plan to appeal this decision and our issues and claims
are quite different from USAIR's. We will provide you with more information on
the USAIR case in our next update.
Thanks
for your your continued support.
Sincerely,
Will Buergey
DP3 Chairman
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: 6/21/2012 9:23:49 PM
To: Mark Sztanyo
Subject: NRLN
Action Alert - Legislation Needed to Protect Pensions
NRLN Action Alert
Legislation
Needed to Protect Pensions
If you read
my June 15th President's Forum either in the email or on www.nrln.org , you know that
General Motors has announced a lump sum pension buyout offer to selected
salaried retirees and those who do not take the offer, in addition to other
salaried retirees, will receive a GM-purchased annuity from Prudential.
You can be
sure that when a major corporation like GM announces a voluntary termination of
its defined benefit pension plan, other companies will be watching and even
planning ahead. Among those companies may be the sponsor of your pension if you
have a defined benefit pension plan providing lifetime payments.
I am asking
you to send the NRLN's sample letter (copy below) to President Obama and your
U.S. Representative and Senators. Urge them to change our laws to prevent
companies from raiding pension assets, encourage companies to adequately fund
their plans and discourage them from selling plans to third party insurance
companies. This kind of financial re-enginnering will create more pension risk,
eliminate PBGC protections and significantly reduce PBGC premium contributions
from companies.
Click here to access the NRLN Action Alert. Look for the Action Alert headline:
LEGISLATION NEEDED TO PROTECT PENSIONS. Click on the "Take Action"
button. On the next screen, type in your zip code and click "GO" to
identify your Representative and Senators and access the sample letter.
Personalize the letter with your own comments about the importance of
protecting defined benefit pension plans.
If you have a
problem accessing the Action Alert with the above link, go to http://www.nrln.org and click on
the "Take Action Now" headline at the top of the NRLN website's home
page.
It would also
help to visit your Representative's and Senators' local offices or call their
Washington, DC or state/district office. Use the information in the sample
letter to ask him or her to support the protection of pensions. Click here to access the NRLN website to
find your Representative's and Senators' office locations and phone numbers.
We need the
support of all of our Grassroots Network members and we need you to encourage
your friends to sign up as Grassroots Network members at http://capwiz.com/abtr/mlm/signup/
. Not only do we need you and your friends to email letters to Washington, D.
C. and talk with your members of Congress, we also need your financial support
through an Individual Member contribution of $25, $50, $75 or more. Any amount
you can contribute will be appreciated. You may make your check or money order
payable to NRLN, Inc. and mail it along with the Membership Contribution
Form at: http://www.nrln.org/printad.htm.
Or, you may make your contribution online with your credit card on the NRLN
website at http://www.nrln.org by clicking
on the "Join Us" icon at the top of the home page and selecting the
“Support the NRLN” link.
Bill
Kadereit, President
National
Retiree Legislative Network
------------------------------------------------------
Dear President Obama: Dear Representative __________: Dear
Senator ________:
You may be aware that General Motors has announced that it
is washing its hands of its defined benefit pension plan for salaried retirees.
I urge you to change our laws to fix the problem of companies raiding pension
assets to pay for corporate restructuring expenses and not adequately funding
plans and / or selling plans to third party insurance companies.
GM used $2.9 billion in pension assets to make lump sum
restructuring severance payments during 2008 and ended the year with a $12.4
billion deficit ($20 billion by PBGC calculations). GM’s raid on the pension
fund resulted in such a dangerous degree of under-funding that in early 2009
the Executive Director of the PBGC wrote to a GM executive to express concern
that GM's actions increased the risk to plan participants and to the PBGC in
the event of plan failure.
Now GM is going to give Prudential $3.5 to $4.5 billion to
replace its salaried retirees' pension plan with an annuity that will not
provide salaried retirees with the financial protection of ERISA and the PBGC.
It seems to me that if GM can pour up to $4.5 billion into the plan to shift it
to Prudential, it could have put all those dollars into the pension plan to
meet the ERISA funding obligation of 80% and to support paying PBGC premiums
rather than purposely sinking its pension plan. This is an obvious scheme to
privatize entire pension plans and to dissolve plan sponsor obligations to
retirees and the PBGC.
GM did not have to take its action. Ford is still providing
its salaried retirees a traditional pension plan with all its security to those
who elect not to take the lump sum buyout offered by the company. Chrysler has
stated that it has no intention of ending its pension plan for salaried
retirees. GM stands alone among the U.S. automakers in throwing its retirees
under the bus and renouncing its promises to its most loyal former employees.
That breach in loyalty has soured the attitudes of a majority of GM retirees
who have been sending emails to both the General Motors Retiree Association
(GMRA) and the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN). Many salaried
retirees are bitterly stating they will never buy another GM vehicle.
You can be sure that when a major corporation like GM
announces a voluntary termination of its defined benefit pension plan, other
companies will be watching the outcome and considering similar actions.
Legislation is needed immediately to provide stronger protections for defined
benefit pensions. The NRLN has developed a number of white papers that contain
proposals to strengthen pension laws. You can access them on the NRLN website
at www.nrln.org
by clicking on the Legislative Action tab and selecting the "NRLN White
Papers" link. Or, contact Marta Bascom, the NRLN's Executive Director in
Washington, D.C., on 703-863-9611 or by email at marta.bascom@linkspace.net .
Millions of America's retirees are struggling financially.
You need to take action to prevent the loss or deterioration of pension
payments that were promised to them.
Sincerely,
Bill Kadereit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The above post is not necessarily the opinion or shared view of the editor. Some posts may be excluded from the current issue because of too much content or deemed inappropriate. All PCN subscribers are welcome to post. PCN Home Page is located at: http://pcn.homestead.com/home01.html
No comments:
Post a Comment