AGRE Update -- January 2009

Please make plans to attend the monthly meeting of AGRE (Alliance of Grandfathered Retirees and Employees) on Thursday, February 5, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at 133 Raleigh Road, Oak Ridge, TN.

January was a very busy month as the AGRE Actions Committee continued to work on benefit and pension issues for Grandfathered retirees and employees.

AGRE has learned that the funding status of the BJC Pension Plan for Grandfathered Employees has been affected by the dramatic downturn in the economy and has decreased to 63% . The plan has historically maintained a funded status near 100%. While this level is alarming, BJC has indicated their intent to contribute approximately $15M to the pension fund in 2009, in accordance with ERISA funding laws. These contributions are reimbursed through contracts with the Department of Energy. Because of the magnitude of the equity losses in the market, BJC asked its actuary to approximate the impact on the plan's funding level and future contributions.

AGRE representatives Teresa Riggs, Alan McAmis, Floyd Oliver, and Bruce Lawson and CORRE liaison Pete Peterson met with BJC Human Resources benefits manager Roz Torrence on January 15, 2009. Although AGRE did not receive a response to either of the two letters mailed to BJC President Paul Divjak, BJC appears open to meeting with AGRE representatives and working to resolve concerns. BJC, whose contract end date is December 2011, is also open to the proposal to move the benefits administration to B&W Y-12. AGRE would like to establish monthly meetings with BJC to work together on these issues.

AGRE is meeting with and requesting the support of our government officials in changing our medical insurance provider from Aetna to CIGNA and moving our benefits administration from BJC to B&W Y-12. This would ensure that jobs stay in Tennessee and not move out of state. CIGNA (Chattanooga office) personnel would handle our claims. More importantly, the tax payers and federal government would enjoy a cost savings of more than $6M over the first three years, and BJC employees and retirees would save money on their medical premiums with no loss of benefits. Meetings held to date:

• On January 20, 2009, AGRE representatives Teresa Riggs, Alan McAmis, and Bobby Collier met with Gina McMahan of Congressman Zach Wamp's office in Oak Ridge.
• On January 22, 2009, AGRE representatives Teresa Riggs and Alan McAmis met with David Leaverton of Senator Bob Corker's office in Knoxville.

Larry Long and Teresa Riggs met with the B&W Y-12 and Pantex Sites Human Resource Director, Donna Hampton, and Connie Pruett, Benefits Administration, about moving Benefits Administration from BJC to B&W Y-12. Work efforts toward this issue are on-going, and another meeting is planned next month.

Both AGRE and CORRE members recently expressed concerns to Senator Bob Corker's office that the current DOE policy regarding retired contractors does not adequately adjust for inflation and cost of living increases. As a result, Senator Corker asked the following question at the nomination hearing for Dr. Chu, the new Secretary of Energy: Will you conduct a careful review of the benefit plans offered to retirees by the Oak Ridge DOE contractors, as well as those provided by other DOE contractors at other facilities and tell us if you believe there are inequities in those plans? If so, should they be addressed by the Department?
Secretary Chu responded: If confirmed I would certainly be willing to request a review of the benefit plans provided to retirees at Oak Ridge and other DOE sites, and to examine the issue closely. As you are aware, this is not an issue that I have been previously involved in beyond the Berkely Laboratory, so I do not currently have a view of whether there are inequities in the Oak Ridge plans. I would look foward to discussing the issue further with you after conducting a review.

About 130 postcards were mailed to GF retirees and employees inviting them to the monthly AGRE meetings and providing the web link to the AGRE blog. It is very important that Grandfathered retirees and employees provide us with their home e-mail addresses for future communications. Please send this information to gfemployee@yahoo.com.