UAW Local 1005 - Retirees Corner

Retirees Corner

Dick Topola
Retirees Recording Sec.
U.A.W Local 1005
DickTopola@uawlocal1005.org

Retirees Board

Jerry Schmidt Chairman		Bob Masterson Co Charman

Charlie Prokop Financial Secretary		Mike Dargaj Sgt- At - Arms

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Local 1005.
Retirees meeting will be held on the last thursday of every month except December. Lunch begins at 10:45am, and the meeting starts at 12pm. Benefits rep will be availible from 10:30am to 2:30pm on the day of the meeting. Armon Russ will also be availible for anyone that might need help purchasing a new/leased vehicle, or if they have problems with their current new car.
"As per Fidelity" the pay increase for retirees that was agreed to under the 2007 National Agreement will be reflected in your April retirement check. A separate check with the retroactive amount will be paid shortly there after if not at the same time. If you have any further questions pleas contact your Benefit Rep @ 216-265-5878 or 216-265-5879.

Latest Retirees News

Addendum to Voluntary Employee Beneficiary
Association (VEBA) Agreement:

Click Here To View Agreement

SOFTBALL PLAYERS NEEDED
Greater Cleveland Senior Softball League. contact Don Lange-Media Relations at wsleman@sbcglobal.net or www.greaterclevelandseniorsoftball.com

An Article From Bill Bowers.
(Taken from Retirees’ Corner, By Bill Bowers, Chairman, UAW Retirees Advisory Council)
Well, we are all very nervous about GM teetering on the verge of bankruptcy and the fate of the loan request by GM, Ford and Chrysler. I will attempt to answer the questions asked by our retirees.

PENSION
• Pensions are protected by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974. Creditors of GM have no claim on the assets in a company’s traditional pension plan or 401(k) PSP plan.
• Most pensions are insured by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp (PBGC). If our plan ends without sufficient money to pay all benefits, the PBGC program will pay you the benefit provided by your pension plan up to the limits set by law.
If GM goes into bankruptcy or applies to the PBGC that they cannot remain in business unless the plan is terminated, the following rules will apply:
• PBGC guarantees “basic benefit” earned before the plan ended. Our Pension Plan is currently funded to about 99.6% so we would qualify for our basic benefit and if plan assets are sufficient, some of our supplemental benefit. (Supplements are paid until you reach your 80% Social Security age).
• Annuity benefit for survivors of plan participants.
• Disability benefit for disabilities that occurred prior to plan termination.

PBGC Does Not Guarantee
• Severance benefits
• Health and welfare benefits
• Vacation Pay
• Lump sum death benefits after plan termination
• To sum all that up, we would get our basic pension benefit, some supplemental benefit based on plan assets, survivor benefits and disability pension benefits that occur prior to plan termination.

Health Care
• As stated earlier in my report, the PBCG does not provide for health and welfare benefits.
• Our health care coverage would become part of the bankruptcy proceeding and the judge would rule as to how our health care would be handled.
• Corporations usually ask the judge to terminate all collective bargaining agreements, but if it comes to that the UAW will react and develop a plan of action.
• All assets of the VEBA would remain with the VEBA, but what coverage would be available would depend on assets of the plan.
As of this article, the loan is not passed, but should be voted on by 12/10/08. If it passes, hopefully the economy will start to recover and the “Big 3" can become viable once again.

Social Security - Now some good news!

• January 1, 2009, we will receive a 5.8% increase in Social Security and the Medicare “B” costs will stay the same so we will get a raise in our benefits.
• The Social Security payment cutoff amount is $106,800 in 2009 and you need earnings of $1,090 to earn a credit.

Some Facts on all UAW Retirees:

• The UAW has 580,000 retirees of which 70% pay the $2.00 per month voluntary dues
• 57 retirees over 100 years old
• 4,532 retirees over 90 years old
• 31,524 retirees over 80 years old
• 72,112 retirees over 70 years old
• 110, 003 retirees over 60 years old
• 52,055 retirees over 50 years old
• 2,536 retirees over 40 years old
• 13 retirees over 30 years old

Bill Bowers,
Chairman, UAW Retirees Advisory Council

Brother and sisters of UAW Local 1005 that have deceased in 2010