Originally Posted by
Bill80
There’s a risk of not getting a pension increase without ending it for new hires.
Is this true though? Just for argument sake, TA1 was worth $3.8B and about 45% of that value was in retirement improvements. Cant we have TA2 be 100% of the $3.8B be in retirement and keep new hires on the pension?
Originally Posted by
Bill80
The anti cutback rule I quoted literally says you can’t have your accrued benefits reduced by an amendment to a plan. It doesn't matter if the union agreed to it or not, it’s an amendment. We’re talking about benefits protected by federal law. The union could only agree to reduce the accrual of FUTURE benefits. Which even then, that is unlikely, because it’s not fair to reduce one groups benefits for another.
At this point I don’t think you’re legitimately asking. You’re just being obtuse and demanding a reference from me, which I provided, that is not good enough for you.
Why don’t you reach out to an ERISA attorney, and ask your question? I suspect you’d refuse to believe them anyway because it conflicts with your view of reality.
We spent most of our negotiating capital in TA1 raising the pension. And you now think in the follow on contract we’re going to negotiate that away, as if that’s allowed by law?
It sounds like it can be done if the laws are changed. People talk about that all the time when it comes to tax increases affecting tax deffered retirement accounts. There was a time when social secutiry income was not taxed. Estate taxes seem to change every 5-10 years. We are looking at a possibility of age 67 soon, etc. Hell, we even had a constitutional amendment just to tax ourselves any income!
I'm not saying that all of that or any of it is going to happen. Or maybe it just takes a few of the Fortune 500 companies with pensions to throw a few billion towards DC to grease the wheels of congress? I'm just saying that it is a risk. Just because something is law today doesn't mean it wont change between now and death. Just throwing it out there to spell out another risk that seems to go by the wayside. And to be clear, that risks exists today regardless of whats in TA2.