The Times They Are A-Changin'

A short while back I did several posts on the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), the National Education Association (NEA) imposed trusteeship and the bankrupt Indiana State Teachers Association Trust Fund (blog search ISTA if interested).

I followed by posting a link to the Department of Labor Critical and Endangered Status Notice Page which list the Multi-employer Pension Plans (mostly union) reported to DOL as "critical or endangered" Is that a euphemism for broke?

I received a response telling me to keep my eyes open because this is just the tip of the iceberg and we'll see some radical changes in the government - labor movement -corporation - worker consanguinity. Hmmm - I thought we already had seen some radical changes with the government/UAW partnership in control of GM and Chrysler.

But the warning was deeper and more dire - I was told that many unions would need massive government hand-outs just to stay out of bankruptcy and that the union controlled pension funds were all on life support. Hell, we've bailed everyone else out, why discriminate against the unions?

Perhaps it's not PC to say that labor tried to buy government in the 2008 elections but what else do you call it? It might have even been a good investment - payback has already started and the indications are it will continue as long as Obama can come up with the candidates and bucks the unions need. Welcome to the Brave New World!

One thing I find ironic is my perception that the unions are attacking their own pension funds. I'm sure there are many reasons for the dismal state of the funds, mismanagement and corruption immediately come to mind, but I wonder how many of the funds include stock from the very corporations labor seems intent on destroying?

As an example, Joe Hansen of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is behind a massive effort to organize WalMart, which is profitable, employs about 1.4 million people and plans on creating 22,000 new jobs this year. According to the UFCW, the evil giant is responsible for every malady know to mankind - including my beer gut and balding pate (thank gawd - I thought it was heredity and overindulgence)! One might wonder how much of the large UFCW investment portfolio, albeit down from $67,607,164 to $38,515,570 in 2008, is WalMart stock?

It all makes me shake my head in amazement and I only hope I live long enough to "See The NEW USA In My Government Motors Chevrolet"

"Ladies and Gentlemen - This is your pilot speaking - we've encountered turbulence, please fasten your seat belts".

Win, lose or draw, it's gonna be a hell of a ride!

Critical and Endangered Union Pension Funds

In the wake of the Indiana State Teachers Fund Insurance Trust failure, it's time to turn our attention to the union/employer management of many multi-employer pension funds; pensions that thousands of union members are depending on for some security when they're no longer able to work (or perish the thought, perhaps even "early" retirement).

Department of Labor regulations require that the trust managers report "endangered" (assets below 80% of liabilities) and "critical" (assets below 65% of liabilities) and the stats are scary at best:

Kevin Mooney, reporting for the washingtonexaminer.com informs us that, according to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, "the average union has resources to cover only 62% of what is owed to participants" and "less than 1 in 160 workers is covered by union pension with required assets".

Perhaps Mr. Mooney's article should be required reading for those members covered by the failing pension plans; he paints a very grim outlook and and it certainly doesn't look like President Obama, Labor Secretary Solis or the Congress are overly concerning with the members who could lose much of their earned retirement.

On a positive note for union members, please Google "Labor Union Pension Bailout". Many of the large unions are already begging for government bailouts and who knows, feeding at the public trough may be the answer. Obama certainly owes a large debt for his election - repayment is expected.

image courtesy of work-for-food.signgenerator.net

Indiana State Teachers Association Trust Fund Update

"No one receiving a check has missed a payment and because of this partnership, no one ever will," said ISTA President Nate Schnellenberger.

Rich Van Wyk: Eyewithness News June 8th,2009

It's an interesting story being reported but is it correct?

I believe it's correct to report "former ISTA president Nate Schnellenberger........" Ed Sullivan, NEA trustee is running the show these days and it's reported that his position is that there is no money. I don't think you can forgot that Mr. Schnellenberger was both the ISTA president and a director of the failed insurance trust.

Perhaps wthr.com incorrectly posted an old story and was quoting Mr. Schnellenberger before NEA put the local in trusteeship. We would hope that Mr. Schnellenberger, not Mr. Sullivan, is correct.

Good news: the story also reports that the thousands of teachers, covered by the health insurance arm of the trust, will continue to receive their health care benefits.

I have a personal observation. This story is almost a month old and seems to be little reported even in Indiana. My local newspaper, the Denver Post, has not covered it at all. The ISTA trust failure coupled with the Department of Labor Multi-employer Critical and Endangered Pension list (note: ISTA was not listed as critical or endangered) seems to be a problem could effect hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Americans.

This is one tiny blog and we can see a problem. Is this just Chicken Little running around "The sky is falling" or a serious problem that needs to be addressed? Where is the news coverage? Where is the Obama administration and Secretary Solis? Is Congress too busy working on the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act to notice pensions are endangered? Most importantly, where is Big Labor?

It's a union and American problem - Address the problem!

DOL Critical and Endangered Pension Funds

Critical And Endangered Status Notices

Under Federal pension law, if a multiemployer pension plan is determined to be in critical or endangered status, the plan must provide notice of this status to participants, beneficiaries, the bargaining parties, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the Department of Labor. This requirement applies when a plan has funding or liquidity problems, or both, as described in the Federal law. If a plan is in critical status, adjustable benefits may be reduced and no lump sum distributions can be made. Pension plans in critical and endangered status are required to adopt a plan aimed at restoring the financial health of the pension plan.

For participants with questions regarding the notices, first contact your plan administrator. If you still have questions, contact the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration by calling toll-free 1.866.444.EBSA (3272) or electronically at www.askebsa.dol.gov.