Please note that the next AGRE Monthly Meeting will be on Thursday, July 9, at 6 p.m. This is a change due to the July 4th holiday week.
AGRE apologizes for any inconvenience at the June 4 monthly meeting when the AGRE Actions Committee was meeting with BJC personnel. In the future, meetings with BJC personnel will not be scheduled on the same night as the monthly meeting.
John Steward and Dennis Pennington traveled to Washington, DC in May. They met with Inez Threy, Lincoln Davis, Zach Wamp’s aide, Bob Corker’s aide, and Tom Craig of Lamar Alexander’s office to discuss moving the management of our pension and benefits to Y-12, removal of the pension cap, a reduced spouse option of 2%, and the cost savings that can be realized. While they listened and understood, no support is being offered.
On May 30, 2009, a letter was sent to Gerald Boyd, Manager of DOE Oak Ridge Operations, requesting protocol to conduct a peaceful rally on the grounds of the Federal Office Building. The rally would be held to bring attention to inequities in the pension and health benefits of the Grandfathered retirees and employees and also due to the intent of DOE (Cincinnati, OH) to further separate our benefits from Oak Ridge by awarding the management of pension and benefits as part of the Portsmouth D&D Project in Ohio. We have repeatedly demonstrated that there is a significant cost savings in consolidating our benefits in Oak Ridge and the advantage of saving Tennessee jobs. On June 4, AGRE received a phone call from Jim Thompson (DOE) who indicated he would be sending AGRE a form to complete.
BJC will be sending out letters to Grandfathered retirees who, this year, may be paying less federal income tax. While retirees are enjoying a bigger take-home pension, there is a possibility that they could end up paying it back at income tax time.
Approximately 100 retirees have been sending a check to BJC each month to pay their medical premiums. In the past, these checks were not deposited immediately. Notices are being mailed by BJC to retirees that effective July 1 these checks will be electronically deposited the day they are received.
Roz Torrence, BJC Human Resources Benefits Manager, attended the AGRE Actions Committee Meeting on Thursday, June 4, to discuss the recently issued Annual Funding Notice for BJC Pension Plan for Grandfathered Employees. Other BJC representatives were Mary Ellen Branan and Mary Beth Blair. The Annual Funding Notice (AFN) replaces the Summary Annual Report (SAR) which has been issued in previous years. Key differences in the new notice, for which DOL provided the model, include a three-year financial history, disclosure of funding, and asset allocation strategy. The funded percentage for 2008 was 103.51%, significantly higher than the 63% funding level reported at the January AGRE meeting. The funding level would be lower than 103.51% (possibly around 84%) if the way it is being reported had not changed. The 2008 funded percentage uses a specific set of assumptions and methods as outlined under the Pension Protection Act which differ from the assumptions and methods prior to 2008. Roz stated that BJC has been making contributions to the pension plan since 2004 and that $15.5M was deposited into the plan this year. DOE reimburses BJC for these contributions and is required by law to put in minimum contributions. Our pension plan is only open to Grandfathered employees, but in the past USEC did not transfer pension assets for several Paducah and Portsmouth employees who met the Grandfather definition and became part of the pension plan. This has had a negative effect on the funding levels, as well as a relatively early retirement age. There are 2,114 participants in this plan, and the average age of a BJC retiree is 56 years. The mortality age is 82 for women and 78 for men. The Benefits Investment Committee (BIC) meets quarterly to review the market, returns, and forecasts. Representatives from both Bechtel and Jacobs are on the BIC, as well as representatives from Portsmouth and Paducah. The "plan year" is January 1 through December 31. BJC sends the AFN first to DOL for review, then it is sent to participants by April 30. BJC has a budget to the year 2016 for clean-up work to be completed, and funds are allocated in this budget to fund the pension plan through 2016, if needed. The pension plan is important to DOE-OR and is guaranteed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federal agency. This was an important meeting between AGRE and BJC, and we hope to continue these open communications in the future.
On June 10, 2009, form letters were sent to all Grandfathered employees and retirees on our distribution to complete and mail to our senators, congressmen, governor, mayors, and DOE representatives entitled “Saving Tennessee Jobs.” We are requesting they take action to prevent the management of our pension and benefits from being moved from Tennessee to Ohio. This year AGRE has been meeting with HR representatives in an effort to keep our benefits in Oak Ridge when (or before) the BJC contract ends on December 31, 2011. B&W Y-12 currently manages pension and benefits for 23,873 participants. Keeping the benefits of the 2,114 Grandfathered personnel in Oak Ridge will provide significant cost savings to employees and taxpayers.
AGRE participated in the Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge on June 19 and 20, sharing a tent with CORRE representatives. Volunteers were available to discuss AGRE activities and encourage other grandfathered retirees and employees to join.
