retiree medical coverage going up

[Brown too long]

I tried to retire thru CS in 2003 after all the changes where made. It was going to cost for my wife and I $1000 per month for health coverage thru CS. And for the wife to get any benefit if I should die another $450 a month. Her benefit was to be one half of my pension total or $1600 per month.
So $1450 off the top of $3200 left $1750. Take taxes off of that and it was worse than pittiful.
So yes I am still around and still getting shafted by CS. Stuck in a pension fund that was 50% funded and with the 3.9 billion after tax buyout will still be severely underfunded. In my estimate the buyout only kicks the insolventcy can down the road a few years.
I know the Teamsters and UPS very well and both are only concerned with their own bottom lines. A driver is nothing more than a number to either one.
This contract was force fed to the Teamsters because of changes in law that would have led to government takeover of CS at start of new year. UPS dictated and the Teamsters folded because the fund had to have an infusion of cash.
I am sorry to have rambled a little guys but this is my first post and I got a little carried away.

 

[homer123]

I tried to retire thru CS in 2003 after all the changes where made. It was going to cost for my wife and I $1000 per month for health coverage thru CS. And for the wife to get any benefit if I should die another $450 a month. Her benefit was to be one half of my pension total or $1600 per month.
So $1450 off the top of $3200 left $1750. Take taxes off of that and it was worse than pittiful.
So yes I am still around and still getting shafted by CS. Stuck in a pension fund that was 50% funded and with the 3.9 billion after tax buyout will still be severely underfunded. In my estimate the buyout only kicks the insolventcy can down the road a few years.
I know the Teamsters and UPS very well and both are only concerned with their own bottom lines. A driver is nothing more than a number to either one.
This contract was force fed to the Teamsters because of changes in law that would have led to government takeover of CS at start of new year. UPS dictated and the Teamsters folded because the fund had to have an infusion of cash.
I am sorry to have rambled a little guys but this is my first post and I got a little carried away.

It's not rambling. It's what we want to know is happening. My latest "conspiracy theory" is that UPS pushed the government to flex its muscle. I say that tongue-in-cheek, but who benefits the most from this buy-out. In 1997 President Clinton was asked to intervene in the strike. He said it was not the place of the government to interfere w/ private business. Do you think President Bush would have allowed a strike? No way. OK, I don't disagree that a strike could do some long term damage to the company & the union. If unions do not have that leverage they may as well not exist. This buy-out,even w/ its positive points, long term only serves UPS best interest. Those of you vested in CS think about this example; Joe Driver has 20 years in 2008. retires 10 years later. expects 2 pension checks, one from CS for 2/3 of his pension & one from UPS for 1/3. If CS cannot stay afloat even with this added cash, where does that leave Joe Driver? I am trying to scare people? No! I am trying to get people to read all the print in the contract before casting a vote. I do believe that both sides were acting in our interest by getting this on paper by 10-01, but I believe UPS comes out on top, no matter how many ways you spin it. (Now that's rambling!)

 

[rocking chair guy]

Homer , I retired Oct of 2002 , premiums were $50 a month for wife and I , or that is what I was told it was going to be ...when it came time to make first payment it had jumped to $150 a month and each year since it has jumped $100 a month to the present $550 for both of us ...no dental or vision were available with retiree plan . I am told that it can keep going up long as the trustees of Central States deems necessary and UPS will follow suit . Back in 70's or early 80's ( I forget now ) our district had the choice of staying under Central States for our medical coverage or going with UPS's coverage , it was a one time thing , cant remember why this happened to be honest , maybe someone else will come along who does , anyway we voted to go with the UPS coverage as it was better in most aspects from Central States . As a retiree I am covered under the UPS medical insurance plan and they have raised their monthly premiums under the guise of having to follow what Central States does with its monthly premium rates for its medical coverage of its retirees , that is what the letter states from UPS I get each time the cost of my insurance goes up ....it is ironic in a way as my understanding of the language that was in place when we voted to go with the UPS insurance was that it would be equal or better than that offered by Central States so they would not be bound to raise their premiums to its retirees just because Central States does . Central States had just raised their insurance rates to their retirees to $150 a month right before I retired so before I actually put in my retirement date I asked guys I knew at the union hall ( I was a steward for 27 years so knew them well ) and a couple of management guys who I had drove with for years and knew for 25 -30 years if they had heard if UPS was going to increase their insurance premiums for its retirees as I wanted to take that into consideration with retirement and both sides supposedly checked with higher ups and both came back with the same answer that no one had heard anything about UPS raising their premiums ....and I have told you what has happened with my premiums ....like I said in earlier post , not happy about it but crap happens in life and out of my control ....finding out as a retiree that you are pretty far down on the food chain ! LOL

 

[rocking chair guy]

Satellitedriver , I didnt have the option of going with Central States as we were covered by UPS's insurance . More I think of it , we voted on this in very early 70's as a result of an agreement between two locals , both from different states as some of the work was moved just across the river from one to the other to a new center opening up and we were represented for a year or two by our old local and then the agreement was reached to have us become part of the local in the state where the new center was as we were the only ones in the state to not belong to that local , so they let us vote ( by the state ) on going with Central States coverage or UPS's and think that is pretty much how it went down but memory isnt as good as it used to be ! I know when we voted they told us that it was a one time deal and we were locked into whichever we chose . So when I retired the option of picking up the Central States insurance wasnt really available to me . We draw our pensions from Central States but are covered by UPS medical insurance . I know the other teamsters retirees in our local have their medical coverage thru Central States but all the UPS retirees are covered under UPS's insurance . We may be unique in this regard , not sure how other locals work . Hope I didnt confuse you too much as some events as they happened are not so clear after all these years .....or maybe I am just getting older and forgetfull ! LOL

 

[homer123]

Local 435

I have not received a reply from rocking chair guy about how his insurance rate increased. How about yours. Did it go up in small increments or a couple of big increases. In another comment one person said they recently received notice that his insurance was going from $50 to $114 (or thereabouts). For your to go from $50 to $550 since 2003 is shocking to say the least. rocking chair guy said that his plan did not include vision/dental...does yours? thanks

 

[kenco80233]

Satellitedriver , I didnt have the option of going with Central States as we were covered by UPS's insurance . More I think of it , we voted on this in very early 70's as a result of an agreement between two locals , both from different states as some of the work was moved just across the river from one to the other to a new center opening up and we were represented for a year or two by our old local and then the agreement was reached to have us become part of the local in the state where the new center was as we were the only ones in the state to not belong to that local , so they let us vote ( by the state ) on going with Central States coverage or UPS's and think that is pretty much how it went down but memory isnt as good as it used to be ! I know when we voted they told us that it was a one time deal and we were locked into whichever we chose . So when I retired the option of picking up the Central States insurance wasnt really available to me . We draw our pensions from Central States but are covered by UPS medical insurance . I know the other teamsters retirees in our local have their medical coverage thru Central States but all the UPS retirees are covered under UPS's insurance . We may be unique in this regard , not sure how other locals work . Hope I didnt confuse you too much as some events as they happened are not so clear after all these years .....or maybe I am just getting older and forgetfull ! LOL

That is what happened in Colo.Also we are the only people in the state of Colo. in the CS.Every one else including are union officials are in the Western.We got very little ,if any information about the CS.until retiring.The first time we learned that the CS was in trouble was from the drivers that we talked to from Kansas.Our union officials thought we were speading rumors when told of the changes to the Cs.

 

[ups79]

Satellitedriver , I didnt have the option of going with Central States as we were covered by UPS's insurance . More I think of it , we voted on this in very early 70's as a result of an agreement between two locals , both from different states as some of the work was moved just across the river from one to the other to a new center opening up and we were represented for a year or two by our old local and then the agreement was reached to have us become part of the local in the state where the new center was as we were the only ones in the state to not belong to that local , so they let us vote ( by the state ) on going with Central States coverage or UPS's and think that is pretty much how it went down but memory isnt as good as it used to be ! I know when we voted they told us that it was a one time deal and we were locked into whichever we chose . So when I retired the option of picking up the Central States insurance wasnt really available to me . We draw our pensions from Central States but are covered by UPS medical insurance . I know the other teamsters retirees in our local have their medical coverage thru Central States but all the UPS retirees are covered under UPS's insurance . We may be unique in this regard , not sure how other locals work . Hope I didnt confuse you too much as some events as they happened are not so clear after all these years .....or maybe I am just getting older and forgetfull ! LOL

 

[ups79]

Rockingchair:are you located near the Illinois/Iowa border?

 

[ups_vette]

Why does this one segment of our society (medical coverage) seem to have unlimited, unrestrained increases unlike any other? What causes all these skyrocketing costs?

One of the major reasons for skyrocketing cost is due to the abuse of the system. As one poster stated in a previous thread on health care, they "learned how to play the game". The poster stated that when going to the doctor for one reason, they have the doctor falsify the claim submitted to the insurance stating a reason that is completely covered, rather than the actual reason for the visit, which would not be covered.

It's people like that who rather than pay for their own medical care, make us all pay for that poster's care in the form of higher rates

 

[sendagain]

The problem is you retire with a certain set of conditions in place, then suddenly those factors start changing and affecting your retirement. These potential changes in costs are never mentioned; maybe they never happened in the past, but the end result is your financial security becomes at risk. If this is what the retirees are going to be facing every year, then the Teamsters should take all limits off their retirees from work restrictions that are now in place. They don't even tell you you are going to have restrictions on what kind of work you can do when you leave until you file for retirement. You practically need a lawyer to help you understand what the restrictions are. I can understand a union giving up things when a company is losing money, but UPS makes more money every year. Maybe a lot of this money for the buyout is going to come right out of our pockets.

 

[kenco80233]

The problem is you retire with a certain set of conditions in place, then suddenly those factors start changing and affecting your retirement. These potential changes in costs are never mentioned; maybe they never happened in the past, but the end result is your financial security becomes at risk. If this is what the retirees are going to be facing every year, then the Teamsters should take all limits off their retirees from work restrictions that are now in place. They don't even tell you you are going to have restrictions on what kind of work you can do when you leave until you file for retirement. You practically need a lawyer to help you understand what the restrictions are. I can understand a union giving up things when a company is losing money, but UPS makes more money every year. Maybe a lot of this money for the buyout is going to come right out of our pockets.

It was a very eye opening experiance when I retired.Luckily,I had a pretty good 401K and several IRAs otherwise it would be a stuggle to maintain with the increases in the insurance.I have though about getting a part-time job,however the more I red about the work restrictions the more confused I get.

 

[ups79]

Why, if the cost is going up, is UPS now going to cover partners of civil unions. This just means there is less to cover increases of the "straight" people. One thing about it though all those who get covered under "civil unions" will have to declare it as income subject to state, federal and local taxes. One of these days, the union will be paying 50% annunities to these partners of civil unions as surviving spouses.

 

[rocking chair guy]

UPS 79 ....on the Iowa / Nebraska border ....I actually draw pension from Local 710 out of Chicago and also Central states ....think they broke it down to 1 1/2 years that 710 was responsible for and 29 1/2 that Central States pays ....got $3100 a month but wife insisited on the survivor benefit being taken out , over my objections but after 37 years of marriage I have learned not to argue to much , Ha , that was $465 off the top , and then my federal taxes are taken out , I have to pay the state taxes myself , so I end up with around $2300 a month clear so with all the increases in the insurance premiums you can see where paying $550 a month for them hurts , I am lucky the wife makes a decent wage . Most of the guys I retired with have ended up going back to work part time somewhere to make ends meet ....those of you planning to retire make sure you have all your ducks in a row financially before you go ....I thought I did but was I ever suprised ...never expected this kind of increase in insurance premiums ....it was like the rules were changed on me near the end of the 4th quarter ! LOL

 

[rocking chair guy]

Kenco 80233 ...Isnt it great to be given so much " good " info by both the company and the union when you are getting ready to retire ? Makes you wonder where they get their info and how that is passed on to us ....like these changes just came in out of the blue and were not in the works for months or longer . Guess we were on the need to know list ?????

 

[mulligan]

I'm not condoning the cost of insurance, but thinks of this: what other service or product do you buy that you have no idea of what it is going to cost you?
When you go to the doctor, the only service you might really know about is how much just saying "HI" to the doctor might cost.
Blame the politicians that won't pass legislation requiring the medical community to post their fees.

 

[ups79]

rockingchair:what state do you live in? In Ill. we have no state income tax or pension benefits.

 

[rocking chair guy]

UPS 79 ... I live in Nebraska ....we dont get a break on state taxes on our pensions ....glad you live in a more favorable area ....know some of the guys who lived in Iowa and retired when I did said they wouldn't get taxed on the first $15 ,000 or somewhere in that neighboorhood of their pensions ....every little bit helps once you get on fixed income . LOL

 

[kenco80233]

It will be a 5 year contract. UPSers will get $3.95 over the life of the agreement, raising the driver wage to $32.12 in the Denver area.
A jointly trusted UPS/Teamster Pension Plan will be established for future UPSers and to aid those currently in the Central States Plan. The agreement will restore all retirement benefits to previous levels as they existed in 2004 before Central States revised their benefits. The re-employment restrictions imposed by Central States will be lifted and retirees will be allowed to work any job they choose other than UPS for as many weekly hours as they wish.
Healthcare benefits for UPS retirees will be enhanced with the age of eligibility dropped from 57 to 55 years of age. There will be a $200 per person or $400 per couple monthly cost, but this price will not increase for the duration of your eligibility. I found this information on Brown.com,Don't know how reliable it is?