Crash Course in Economics

Manufacturing is Vital to National Defense

Steelworkers are "United Together for Kids"

Why 10% of Floridians Can't Vote

The Plight of Multiemployer Pension Plans

Los Planes de Pensiones de Aplazamiento de Empleadores Múltiples

Me refiero a una parte de un artículo, “La crisis de pensiones de empleados múltiples”, de Aliya Wong, Directora Ejecutiva de la Política de Retiro de la Cámara de Comercio de EE. UU., Recientemente publicada en The Hill, sobre la difícil situación de los planes de pensión de múltiples empleadores para ayudar a llevar este problema a ligero.

Los planes de pensiones de beneficios negado han sido favorecidos durante mucho tiempo para la jubilación porque prometen un nivel garantizado de ingresos.  Es una forma indolora para que los jubilados disfruten sus años dorados.  Es decir, a menos que el plan fracase.

Desafortunadamente, esa es la condición en la que se encuentran varios planes de pensiones, especialmente los llamados planes de beneficios definidos de “multi - empleadores”.  No es exagerado decir que estos planes enfrentan una crisis.  Actualmente hay un déficit de más de $124 mil millones en estos planes.  Aproximadamente 1.141 de estos planes, que cubren 1.3 millones de trabajadores, enfrentan una escasez de $36 mil millones y es probable que comiencen a declararse en quiebra en tan solo cinco años. 

Uno podrá pensar que los empleadores en estos planes simplemente podrían pagar mas para apuntalarlos, pero las cantidades son tan grandes que podrían

Hacer que muchos empleadores se declaren en quiebra, sin mencionar que el gobierno respalda estos planes – Se prevé que la Corporación de Garantiza de Beneficios de Pensiones (PBGC, por sus siglas en inglés) regirá en el año 2025.

Para abordar este problema, el congreso decidió establecer un comité bipartidista encargado de elaborar la legislación antes de fin de año.  La Cámara de Comercio de EE. UU. Y el Comité Nacional de Coordinación Planes de Empleadores Múltiples (NCCMP) han emitido un conjunto de principios conjuntos para ayudar al comité en su trabajo.

Faltan de este grupo los Sindicatos, cuyos miembros son los destinatarios principales de estos beneficios.

Sin una reforma sustancial y oportuna del plan de multiempresa ríales, las empresas se irán a la quiebra, los trabajadores se quedarán sin beneficios, y los contribuyentes pueden enfrentar una factura considerable.

Para leer el articulo de la Sra. Wong, en su totalidad vaya a:http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/labor/391953-the-multiemployer-pension-crises

Bill Pienta, Presidente de SOAR

SOAR, Rapid Response,

We Owe it to Them

I have written before about the impact that court appointees can and will have on all of us and our children and grandchildren. A decision by the Supreme Court that was recently handed down in a case referred to as “Janus” by a 5 to 4 decision, illustrates this. The President’s recent appointee made the difference that upended a decade of precedent regarding public employees paying a “fair share” to their unions.

It is clear that this decision is anti-union and anti-worker and is intended to reduce funding to the union. These employees will receive all the benefits that the Union negotiates and are protected by the terms of the collective bargaining but don’t have to pay their fair share -“freeloaders.”

Isn’t it ironic that the same people who oppose individuals receiving something for nothing, are okay with individuals getting the benefits of unions and collective bargaining without having to pay to support getting those benefits? Further, they rationalize in the decision that it has something to do with “free speech” and the First Amendment. Think about that. Such logic could be argued that I shouldn’t have to pay taxes passed by politicians I disagree with. How absurd. 

But, we know the real reason is to undermine unions and worker rights. We are already dealing with the adversity of right-to-work laws.

This is just a further example of the number of adverse issues that the current political situation is creating and why we must stand up and fight back. And we must protect retirement benefits, Medicare and Social Security.

I am impressed with what Rapid Response, Next Generation and SOAR are doing to stand up and fight back. Please get involved; these organizations give us the structure to be active and organized to confront these anti-union, anti-worker attacks. We owe it to our children and grandchildren.

Bill Gibbons, PACE Representative

Retire to your Passions

Retiring to Our Passions 

Just one day before finalizing this edition of SOAR Chapter Connection, I came across an article that, in its title, perfectly summarized what I wanted to write about in this column.   The article – titled “Don’t call it retirement. Call it 'transitioning to a new chapter’” – discussed how changing the way we think about our “post-work” years can have a direct impact on our physical and mental wellbeing.  

As suggested in the article, we should think about our “post-work” years not as retirement, but as a transition where we can “retire to our passions rather than just from our previous jobs or careers.” 

In addition to being an opportunity for USW members to continue our involvement in our great union, SOAR is a chance for each of us to improve our mental and physical health through community service, engaging with others, and educating our friends and families about issues that are important to us as retirees.  

On a number of occasions, we’ve highlighted the “Protect Retirement Security” postcard campaign, which has been the focus of SOAR and Rapid Response activists; resulting to date in the delivery of more than 20,000 postcards to legislators urging them to protect retiree security.  Additionally, SOAR activists traveled to Columbus, Ohio, on July 12, to urge Congressional action to protect millions of active and retired workers covered by multiemployer pensions facing insolvency over the next ten years.  

We know that our SOAR chapters will be actively involved in planning and coordinating activities over Labor Day weekend; I implore you all to contact your USW district office to get plugged into our union’s political program and election activities.  Or, reach out to your state’s AFL CIO or Alliance for Retired Americans to get involved in voter registration drives and voter outreach in support of union-endorsed candidates this fall.  For more information, visit www.aflcio.org or www.retiredamericans.org 

These activities, and more are ways SOAR members are “transitioning to a new chapter” by  following our passions to stay connected to the union - as we continue the fight to protect and enhance the quality of life of retirees and working families.

Julie Stein, SOAR Director

The Plight of Multiemployer Pension Plans

The Plight of Multiemployer Pension Plans

I refer to a portion of an article, “The Multiemployer Pension Crisis” by Aliya Wong, Executive Director of Retirement Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, recently published in The Hill, regarding the plight of multiemployer pension plans to help bring this issue to light:

Defined benefit pension plans have long been favored for retirement because they promise a guaranteed level of income. It’s a painless way for retirees to enjoy their golden years. That is, unless the plan goes bust.

Unfortunately, that’s the condition a number of pension plans are close to being in, particularly so-called “multiemployer” defined benefit plans. It is no exaggeration to say that these plans face a crisis. There is currently a shortfall of more than $124 billion in these plans. Roughly 1,141 of these plans, covering 1.3 million workers, face more than $36 billion in shortfalls and are likely to start going bankrupt in as little as five years.

One might think that employers in these plans could simply pay more to shore them up, but the amounts are so large that they could cause many employers to go into bankruptcy; not to mention, the government backstop for these plans – the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) – is itself predicted to go bust by 2025.

To address this issue, Congress has decided to establish a bipartisan committee tasked with drawing up legislation by the end of the year. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Coordination Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP) have issued a set of joint principles to aid the committee in its work.

Missing from this group are Labor Unions, whose members are the primary recipients of these benefits. 

Without substantive and timely multiemployer plan reform, businesses will go broke, workers will be left without benefits, and taxpayers may face a hefty bill. 

To read Ms. Wong’s article, in its entirety go to: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/labor/391953-the-multiemployer-pension-crisis

Bill Pienta, SOAR President

Medicare&You Vaccines

Our Dependence on China

Our Pharmaceutical Dependence on China

China has been a thorn in the side of American steelmakers since the communist nation joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.

Approximately 50,000 United Steelworker (USW) jobs were eliminated as China and its partners in crime dumped inexpensive, poor-quality steel into the United States market.

But since the President’s steel and aluminum tariffs, it is estimated that nearly 7,000 American steelworker jobs have been added to domestic mills.

While this is especially good news for SOAR members who need a well-funded health program and pension fund, China may be hitting retirees in another scary way.

Most SOAR members are baby boomers that unfortunately develop a variety of health problems that require vital medications.

Just as we once assumed that our steel structures were erected with American-made steel, today we assume that our medications are made in America with close monitoring by the Food and Drug Administration.

But the shocking news is that 80 percent of active ingredients in America’s pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter drugs are manufactured in China and India, according to Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh, authors of a new book “China RX: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine.

Many of the drugs that Americans depend upon, including antibiotics, vitamin C and even cancer drugs are made in China with little regulation.

“The FDA says the drugs are safe. But the outsourcing of America’s medicine production is so complex it seems impossible to ensure that they are safe,” Gibson and Singh write.

In the last ten years, the FDA has announced recalls of Chinese-made medicines, some of which have even caused death. 

If China didn’t disrupt your life when you were working in the mill, there is a chance it will cause irreparable damage when you are ill.

Jeff Bonior, Staff Writer for the Alliance for American Manufacturing

SOAR: A Lifetime of Activism