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 ...
I worked twenty years for a company that was family owned. Left them and fortunately started my own business. When I reached 65 years of age I contacted them to find out how much my retirement was going to be only to find out they had sold to another company the previous year but the sale did not include funding for retirees or health insurance for them. Also not subject to any government regs so received nothing. Not quite as bad as some friends who were older and had retired much earlier, were drawing monthly benefits and suddenly find themselves with nothing.
You just never know.
This is largely caused by the government keeping interest rates so low so their deficit is small due to low interest payments and tax receipts high by propping up the economy. It also helps the bankers recover their losses.
This strategy is killing savers and pension plans. How can anyone retire with interest rates so low?
We(the US)are penalizing good behaviors such as savings and marriage.
he knows the difference between his wage and a pension, what is talking about is that at the age of 70 he is going to have to get a job to supplement his reduced pension.
All those knees broken over the decades all ended up being for nuthin
Yea someone needs to pass a law to dock those indys’ 401Ks to redistribute so the Union guys can be made whole.
Fair is fair.
Sorry, Tom. It’s too bad that you didn’t find out until you were 68 that leftists lie. As you now know, they (unions, Baraq Nobama, Hillary Clinton, Bernard Sanders, etc., etc.) promise you a gold mine, but all you get is the shaft.
Apparently, there is a black hole located somewhere very close to the surface of the Earth. It swallowed the pension funds (only of the workers, not the Union reps) and it swallowed $6 billion from the Department of State.
Not necessarily,before law was changed companies could opt out of Social Security. The railroads do not pay into SS and the retirement is funded by their Retirement Fund.
So it could be the Central States Pension Fund is the same way, that may be their only retirement.
Don’t forget back in the in the day The Central States Pension Fund made all those loans to the mob guys to build the casino’s in Las Vegas.
It's really that simple.
And just think, you browbeat lots of folks that wouldn’t elect a man responsible for destroying the livelihoods of many employees of many companies for his personal and corporate profit.
I guess Karma is real afterall.
Could be the biggest ever!
“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 bet he wishes it was all in a 401K or IRA instead.
I’m an employer and I have to match everything my employees pay into SS. And business has been so bad that neither my husband, nor I, have taken a paychack for ourselves for the last 5 years. We seem to be running this business like a very expensive hobby —long hours, little payback. But we have to keep it going if we are ever going to sell it. We live entirely on SS and get along on far less than this guy is belly aching about, so no, I don’t feel too sorry for him. Sometimes you just have to tighten your belt and soldier on.
That might just make the rank-and-file so pissed they go with Trump.
their contracts were little more than extortion with the threat of destruction of property and violence if contracts weren't passed, all for doing as little as possible in return then on the teat at 60 for the rest of their life no tears here... and i've been in three unions, none by choice
Sucks don’t it? If they are broke, they are broke. Where do you think the money would come from if they mis-managed and there was not enough even if they went bankrupt and sold the company?
That is where we are on defined pensions and personal savings for retirement. Interest rates for “safe” investments are so so low that there is essentially ZERO rate of return on the money put back for your pension. There is not a stack of cash that is depleted for your pension that includes inflation adjustments on the day you retire. There is a sum of money that the planners figure will make a reasonable and safe rate of return to pay for your pension.
I got a nasty thing to tell you... Your pension is either gone or inadequate and you will run out of money before your die and you will be happy to eat dog food and beans and live with your children or in an old people’s warehouse.
I think I’m the only 22 year-old that asked about the solvency and management of the Exxon pension fund nearly 40 years ago. A lot has changed since then. The old actuarial tables and planning assumptions are a joke. We live too long and we don’t make the rate of return on investments that is required for solvency. The old rule of being able to withdraw 4% of the savings base is dead, gone, obsolete and just downright a pipe dream. I’ve seen what happens when companies go bankrupt. The federal pension trust takes over and pays out pennies on the dollar. Problem is, those funds are inadequate now too.
Social Security? Same thing.
Unless substantial changes are made in this country you might as well figure on working until you die.
What changes? Well, start with the take class and the illegals. There just isn’t enough to go around for them and you both.
Town of Merton (Waukesha County Wisconsin) is a rather exclusive community township. many Physicians whom work in Milwaukee hospitals reside within the Town of Merton Township. Look at the Town of Merton like Fairfax County is to Washington DC. The wealthy counties that surround Milwaukee are Ozaukee, Waukesha, and Washington. I grew up in the area so I am familiar with the Town of Merton. A friend as a child became a peditrician lives in the Town of Merton. While I do not make the money of peditrician I am no longer considered good enough to be a friend any longer. Money of a mental health counselor and a pastor is about 75K a year
Problem with most Union pensions is this:
When you join there is no guarantee as to what you will collect. It is subject to what ever the agreement is at the time of retirement.
I feel sorry for guys that where promised a pension but will not receive it.
BTW I have no use what so ever for the unions but I feel sorry for guys that will get screwed by the Union bosses who have known better for a long time.
Union pensions are a ponzi scheme. If you have fewer coming in on the bottom they collapse.
I have not any specific details about how former Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineer and Trainmen have been affected directly, but a few years back they merged with the Teamsters. In the case of BLET brothers, they would be collecting Railroad Retirement on top of a pension. Railroad Retirement has traditio ally been known to be (unlike Social Security) very secure.
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