Posted on 10/19/2015 4:10:51 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
No wonder Tom Minerath is angry.
Sixty-eight years old and retired since 2007, the Town of Merton man is about to have about $20,000 taken away from his annual pension — money he earned, money that was promised him, money guaranteed in contracts negotiated by one of the country's strongest labor unions.
"I'm going to make it through this, but it's just not right," he said. "It's just not right."
Which probably sums up the feelings of more than 270,000 people, including thousands in Wisconsin, who have been told by the financially troubled Central States Pension Fund that their pension payments must be cut, in some cases by 50% or more.
It's a breaking wave in a financial tsunami created in significant part by a change in government policy more than three decades ago that set in motion overwhelming economic forces.
But where the federal government stepped in to prop up giant investment banks after the 2008 crash — a financial debacle the banks helped cause — no bailout is in sight for Minerath and other retired Teamsters truckers. Barring a huge change in congressional sentiment, they'll have to do the bailing themselves.
"It's going to take our living wage, comfortable living wage, and make it non-livable," said retired driver Thomas Botic, 69, of Pewaukee, who recently got notice that his $2,800-a-month pension would be sliced to $1,400. "And at (almost) 70 years old, I don't feel like going out and finding a new job.
"It doesn't sit well with me, that's for sure."
Many of the deepest cuts are being dealt to retirees who worked 30 years and earned relatively large pensions — on the order of $35,000 annually or more — that have let them retire comfortably, but not lavishly.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
Don’t go all Mad Max on me!
Their widows are receiving survivor’s pension reductions, too. I’m sure you don’t give a rats a$$ about them, either. No one wants your gawddamn pity.
Then they won’t miss it.
Good old George Miller. Commie bastard!
If every person in a union household sat out the election, Obama still would have won. Forty percent of union households didn’t vote for Obama.
Har, har, har....
Considering the Department of Labor and U. S. District Court supervised the Central States Pension Fund from 1982-2014, the fact that the CSPF became “severely underfunded” makes me wonder how much better the Mob probably ran the Fund than the government.
See post #127
I know that there were millions in bribes, kick-backs and mob loans taken prior to that time. How underfunded it was can’t be repaired in a declining membership era.
I was not aware that the Feds appointed the management for that length of time. I would have hated to be on that board.
My current understanding is the vote was to cut benefits by 23% to protect solvency and take care of the unfunded liability. Is that your understanding as well?
Think they’ll be impressed by the fact that Trump is drawing a $110,000 pension from The Screen Actor’s Guild?
No. The 23% figure figures in all retirees, including the retirees whose pensions were not reduced due to the fact they are 80 years old, and those who are disabled, and are not cut. Some are cut as much as 60%, some have been cut 100%. That’s why an independent audit is necessary. Also, a detailed explanation of the formula used in calculating the percentage of reduction they are receiving.
The Central States Pension Fund Executive Director, Thomas Nyhan has lost $10 billion on his watch. One of the banks responsible, in part, for the losses, the Northern Trust Group, is still the Fund’s named fiduciary. This same bank somehow managed to lose $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2014. Nyhan hasn’t replaced the bank, objected to the losses, or used ERISA law to have the losses restored to the pension fund. Nyhan has said he “doesn’t blame the banks for the steep losses.” There is no accountability.
As having served as an employer rep on a union pension board of trustees, I can tell you that dividing up the funds between four major investment managers with four different approaches and vehicles was a significant concern to prevent a major loss like that.
How this was allowed to occur is beyond belief considering the fabled history of this fund. I actually knew mob connections that were involved with this in the 70s and saw how open it was.
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