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Old 12-08-2014, 05:33 PM
  #9902  
DC8DRIVER
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Joined APC: Apr 2007
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Originally Posted by ATCsaidDoWhat View Post
Where did I say anything about it being part of a retirement plan? I think the profit sharing monies are better in hard dollars in a paycheck. Retirement should be seperate. More companies are trying to get away from defined benefits because they have to put the money in. Anyone who lived through the 80's on have seen how the plans were underfunded, gutted in bankruptcy and dumped on the PBGC.

There are a couple of excellent, extremely well funded IBT retirements out there that are controlled by outside actuaries that the pilot group could get into and the company would have to pay into.
Why should we negotiate for ANYTHING that is not guaranteed to be there???

Following is a direct quote from our current contract:
"Profit sharing, to the extent there are profits to be distributed, shall be paid..."

Regardless of whether you call it a retirement plan or simply a bonus (because we are such darn nice guys), there is a very real possibility that instead of the insultingly low checks that we now get, there could very well be ZERO to share. As we have seen during these last years of $100 million(+/_) annual profits crew members are lucky to break four figures after tax on their profit sharing check.

Profit sharing is an illusion. The company can make any profit above their $75 million threshold disappear or at lease shrink to the point of being worthless. Eventually, the cost of administering a profit sharing system that nets a pilot a few dollars a year is barely worth the company's time and it sure isn't worth the union's time to negotiate or review for accuracy.

Furthermore, the IBT retirement fund is overextended and we will end up funding a plan that pays more in benefits to retired IBT members than we are putting into it. Again, the money is not guaranteed to be there for us when we retire.

We urgently need to move away from the ancient but fond memories of huge profit sharing checks and into the mindset of a guaranteed, company funded, and employee owned and controlled retirement plan.

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