Part-Time Retirement Benefits

[ducky13swing]

OK, I have a question for all of the stewards and BAs here.
I have an employee who is looking to retire. The local IBT states that because he did not make the required 750 hours of credited service each year of his employment, he is not entitled to any retirement benefits. Our building does not have a guaranteed 3.5hrs, we are under the Air Contract. He went to the local to start the retirement paperwork. They told him he is not entitled to the retirement because he has not exceded the 750 hours per year.
The contract states clearly that for those who work 501 to 749 hours per year will receive 9 months of P/T credited service; pp 77, (i)(2). This is the category he falls into.

My question is, what action can he take to get the retirement he has earned and deserves?

Please do not respond with the usual anti-UPS, anti-management, I hate every thing brown, rhetoric which seems to find its way into every post. This is a serious question and could potentially help one of our own who is getting the run around from the local IBT.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Cezanne]

A couple of questions-

Are his benefits under the company run pension plan or under the teamsters'?

How many years does he have vested and when did he work over 750 hours in a single year?

His age?

Facts-

Master language with the part time pension benefits only applies to the ones in the UPS Pension plan, the part timers who are under the Union controlled one were not negotiated for those improved benefit increases. Those improved benefits were at age 21 you start vesting for retirement before it was 25 years of age. There is language about your vesting does not start till you have worked over 750, much of the time we where working four to five hours a day in my area and vested generally started the first year of employment.

 

[brett636]

I doubt this will be much help, but take your little slice of pension contract text you have their and shove it in their faces and tell them to give the guy his pension. If they don't and can't refute your find then tell the guy to get a lawyer.

 

[upsrick]

YOU only need 500 hours in a calender year. I just retired in april with 30 years of service and 4 years were part-time> I received full credit for the 4 part-time years because i had 500 hours each year.

 

[oldpaddy]

750hrs/yr divided by 52wks equals 14.4hrs/wk
How can you not even work 14.4hrs a week?
I've known some slackers on pre-load, but I didn't think it was possible to work that little.

 

[dragracer66]

Depending on what part of the country he live's it's going to be different for each local contract. In metro Phila it's 750 hr's per year. Who controlls the pension, Parcel or the IBT? Need to know that kind of info

 

[ducky13swing]

OK, he works in an air sort. He gets roughly 1.5 to 2 hours per night max. When you take out his vacation, Sick, and Opt days it works out to be less than 750 per year, but more than 501 per year.
No, he is not slack.
With the air contract, he does not get the 3.5 guarantee. He is at retirement age, with 10 years seniority. I believe he is 65, but not positive, might be older.
He is in the IBT pension plan.
In the past, he did get 750 hours in atleast one year, but with volume being moved out of here to Louisville, our volume has decreased thus less hours.
I hope this answers all of the questions.
Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Cezanne]

Just from the information I would say that the local union might be right, he would not have any vested years required to get a monthly check. What is required is at least 5 full years vested, with him in the IBT pension he would not get any of the improvements over the last several contracts. Those improvements only applied to the part-timers under the company plan. Figuring that he has currently only three years fully vested for those ten he worked. Hate to say it considering he is already around 65, but he might want to work another four years to get up the totals required for being fully vested. Whatever comfort it might provide he will not be alone, afraid working past 65 if very pausible for most of us the ways things are going.

If he is set on leaving he could be eligible for a lump sum settlement, believe it is standard practice for those employees who quit before being fully vested in a pension plan.

 

[Air Hub]

OK, he works in an air sort. He gets roughly 1.5 to 2 hours per night max. When you take out his vacation, Sick, and Opt days it works out to be less than 750 per year, but more than 501 per year.
quote]

Doesn't vacation, sick, Opt days count as hours worked? I work an air sort also, 4 days a week, 3 Hr shifts, 12 Hr a week.. I watch my hours very closely as we need 40 hour a month to keep the medical benefits (which is why I work for UPS).

The Air contract has a 3 Hr guarantee.

ARTICLE 40. AIR OPERATION
Section 3. Air Hub and Gateway Operations


"(2)(b) Daily Guarantees
The three (3) hour daily guarantees shall apply whenever possible."


I sure hope the "whenever possible" guys don't show up at my job site or I will lose my benefits.

 

[hoser]

I doubt this will be much help, but take your little slice of pension contract text you have their and shove it in their faces and tell them to give the guy his pension. If they don't and can't refute your find then tell the guy to get a lawyer.

i think the OP was pretty clear when he said:

Please do not respond with the usual anti-UPS, anti-management, I hate every thing brown, rhetoric which seems to find its way into every post.

 

[JonFrum]

. . . With the air contract, he does not get the 3.5 guarantee. He is at retirement age, with 10 years seniority. I believe he is 65, but not positive, might be older.
He is in the IBT pension plan. . . .

Part-timers are either in the Company-sponsored retirement plan, called the UPS Pension Plan as described in Article 34, Section 1(i) of the Contract, OR they are in one of the regional Teamsters-sponsored plans. You say he is in a Teamsters (IBT) plan but quote the details of the Company (UPS) plan. If a Teamsters plan, which one? Visit the appropriate website and get all the confusing facts firsthand. For example . . .

The Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust
New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund

Anyway, first you have to get five years of Vesting Service, probably by having 750 paid hours or so each year. You can't carry hours over from one year to the next, and you can't have a "break in service" until you earn your five vested years. Usually all paid hours count. It varies, plan to plan. Once vested, this qualifies you for a pension at age 65, or so. It's hard to imagine someone with ten years' seniority not being vested!

The amount of your monthly pension is determined by the Pension Credits (and partial Pension Credits) you accumulate over your career. Don't confuse Vesting Years with Pension Credit Years. They're different, even though they accuumulate during the same calendar years. Good Luck.