UPS Health Benefits Shock for Retired Union Employees

[The Milkman]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

Milkman, Aug 1st is when the contract is up. I'm in the same position you are. Now I was always under the impression, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong,
that the health care was part of the contract. UPS can not change this unless it's agreed to in the contract. This could just be part of the negoiations. They scare the retirees
to go running to their locals. And they use that to get concessions somewhere else. Or still get an increase in the premium, but maybe not that much. I'm not going to panic
yet. But that Aug 1st date isn't by accident.

Yeah my 1st thought was..Hummmmmm..scare tactic to get the Union to give in...Contract date is the way Ups will play their game...I know health care is really expensive, anyone with half a brain knows this so an increase I believe is fair but not to that degree... The contract should will be honored untill August 1st...Hopefully the Union will get this matter taken care of, could be a domino effect across the country if it does not get addressed soon.........

 

[The Milkman]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

I see you are located in Arizona. Did you work in Arizona as a driver? Or did you move to AZ after retiring? Isn't Arizona part of the Teamsters Western Conference? Our medical insurance is $75 per month each ($150 for both of us) and we recently received a letter stating that our insurance would remain the same. DH was in Northern CA while working so maybe there was a NorCal "rider" that had to do with our insurance. ???

Forgive me... I just went back and re-read your original post. You must have been a driver in New Jersey?

 

[The Milkman]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

Yeah Drove for 18+ yrs then worked the Customer Counter for a hair over 7 till retirement..retired 1-08...Moved into my home in Arizona on May 2nd 2008...Love it here.....I was thinking that after 5 yrs maybe time for a slight increase...But Cmon $700 bucks more per month...What those Good ole boys Smokin in Ga??? I would think that if Ups was hurting for the costs of healthcare that everyone in the USA would be affected...The way Ups does things as far how to save a penny on this and a minute on that, you would think that the Brain trusts would be able to calculate cost projections etc the way do everything else...After all...our contract raises were broken up into a raise, pension, and healthcare, monies per hr were to fund this stuff..so what happened all of a sudden???

 

[kumet]

retired?

 

[gorilla75jdw]

Thankyou Obama !! May I have another, sir?

Maybe you need to look at it in context. If a member of your family needs chemo....maybe many months worth........it runs $11,000.00 a session now..........it was $9,000 in 2009. If they need 8 or 10 months worth, you are talking a ton of money. Makes $700.00 seem like little to pay. Thank goodness for coverage!

I guess the difference is $142.00 a tear if what you say is true , and by the way sense your so casuel with your "money grows on trees attitude" , how bout you pay the guys difference sense redistributing other peoples money is the FAIR way to be nowadays , lol, you people kill me .

 

[gorilla75jdw]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

this is what the people wanted and this is what the people get .

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

will have to look into that.Not many of us can wait till medicare age to limp out of package car.

Don't be surprised if they extend the eligibility age for Medicare to 67.

 

[HEFFERNAN]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

2 things I got out of this

A) UPS wants every member and former member of the Teamsters to realize how good their benefits are with a peek at "sticker shock"

B) Everyone needs to invest in their 401k plan and save money up to your retirement. You just can't sit there and hope your pension covers everything that life will throw at you.

 

[moreluck]

I guess the difference is $142.00 a tear if what you say is true , and by the way sense your so casuel with your "money grows on trees attitude" , how bout you pay the guys difference sense redistributing other peoples money is the FAIR way to be nowadays , lol, you people kill me .

Before Medicare.......my med. ins. was over $800 month........hubby's too. Casual with money? Just providing the absolute necessities.

 

[oldupsman]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

2 things I got out of this

A) UPS wants every member and former member of the Teamsters to realize how good their benefits are with a peek at "sticker shock"

B) Everyone needs to invest in their 401k plan and save money up to your retirement. You just can't sit there and hope your pension covers everything that life will throw at you.

I think any anyone who has been with UPS awhile has got to be aware of how good their health bennies are. You're a total idiot if
you don't. I got in the 401k from day one back in 86. I think that's when it started. And I was always close to the max. I made sure every young guy got
in it too, no matter how small they started.

 

[barnyard]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

Discussions like this make me sad that we have defined benefit and not defined contribution.

 

[oldngray]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

The 401k is something everyone should invest in but there is nothing great about the UPS plan. They add zero dollars to match employee contributions like many companies will do. You could have a 401k outside of UPS but while you are still working there is no real advantage to offset the convenience of payroll deductions. But after you retire, I suggest you leave the plan because you will be paying the administrative fees for nothing. I combined everything into a new IRA after I retired last year ( 401k makes no sense now that I stopped contributing ) which was better in my situation.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

The fees in the 401k are often less than most other mutual funds..If you retire before you are 59 and a half you can take money out of your 401k without penalty Its called a 72t ...You can take equal payments for 5 years or until you are 59 and a half which ever is greater..If you roll it into an IRA you lose that advantage

 

[The Milkman]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

2 things I got out of this

A) UPS wants every member and former member of the Teamsters to realize how good their benefits are with a peek at "sticker shock"

B) Everyone needs to invest in their 401k plan and save money up to your retirement. You just can't sit there and hope your pension covers everything that life will throw at you.

Heff...I always since the day I started at Ups knew my benefits were good if not great compared to other companies..Whenever contract time came around I myself would of been happy with a quarter an hr raise but pile the rest into my benefits..Seems over the years that our so called benefits are slowly but surely becomeing commonplace or not as good as other companies in some cases..I joined the 401k from day 1 and it has helped me but I repeat but....When planning for retirement and accepting contracts, and being told what to expect down the road from your retirement package which was explained to me...This sudden change to seems to me that UPS as always will try to stick it to current and retired employees as they have done over the years..United Way , Nascar etc..Ups does with its money as it should but to knock down and whittle away at our pension is in my opinion not showing any concerns for our well being while throwing out millions on advertising..Customer counters and the friend/T jobs that were there were slowly eliminated, pushing people to the UPS Stores..In their plan I am sure..Sneaky way to get rid of Union jobs and again make the Fat Cats In Ga. smile all the way to the bank..I know benefits are very costly as most people do but why Jam down our throat such a large increase?? So I would asume you would be happy if you are retired or not, continue when you are, paying for very high health care costs monthly after they do a bait and switch on you? No one likes it, but be Fair...something UPS has shown us over the years what the meaning of Fair means...Ups will continue this these type of actions because they Can...

 

[Catatonic]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

Milkman,
Sincerely trying to understand this situation:

Is your healthcare provided by the Teamsters or UPS?

Are you under the Central States buyout?

Just trying to understand the background of this.

 

[Jackburton]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

The 401k is something everyone should invest in but there is nothing great about the UPS plan. They add zero dollars to match employee contributions like many companies will do. You could have a 401k outside of UPS but while you are still working there is no real advantage to offset the convenience of payroll deductions. But after you retire, I suggest you leave the plan because you will be paying the administrative fees for nothing. I combined everything into a new IRA after I retired last year ( 401k makes no sense now that I stopped contributing ) which was better in my situation.

Not so with the Roth(401k) option and you are maxing it. A regular RothIRA has a limit of 5k that you can contribute, the Roth(401k) under the companies plan is 17k, like a traditional. If you are maxing it out you are actually putting even more in because of the tax free withdrawals, depending on your tax bracket, about 25% more vs a traditional. Without the companies plan I could not be saving as much money as I could otherwise.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

The choice to be made is whether you want tax break now or when you retire. I prefer to take mine now, hence the traditional 401k, which my financial adviser and I intend to roll over in to a Roth IRA when I retire.

 

[The Milkman]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

Milkman,
Sincerely trying to understand this situation:

Is your healthcare provided by the Teamsters or UPS?

Are you under the Central States buyout?

Just trying to understand the background of this.

My Ups and Welfare Package booklet says ..UPS.. I was From New Jersey. My Pension award letter is from UPS and Local 177.... multi employer plan..Cant figure out why you can not understand this..Simple..retire and pay $50 per month..Switched plans years ago to keep current benefits , as told by Ups reps to me while enrollment period was active..Was surprised that it was only $50 a month which is obviously a great bargain..Previous retirees in our local paid nothing...So UPS wants to increase it now...go ahead but be reasonable...Thats all I ask , and all of us deserve..As far as UPS or Teamsters provided..not sure...I would assume UPS as my coverage booklet does not mention the Teamsters. Maybe someone in Jersey knows otherwise

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

When you said that you "switched plans" does this mean that you went from the Teamster multi-employer plan to the UPS plan? Are the retirees still covered by that Teamster plan facing a similar premium increase? I would guess that they are not as their plan is administered by the Teamsters, not UPS, and therefore would not be subject to any increases imposed by the company. Something tells me you screwed yourself when you switched plans.

 

[bottomups]

Re: Health Benefit Shock

Milkman,
Sincerely trying to understand this situation:

Is your healthcare provided by the Teamsters or UPS?

Are you under the Central States buyout?

Just trying to understand the background of this.

My thoughts exactly. When I retire my health insurance will be through my Teamsters office and the premiums as of today would be around $450 a month for my spouse and I. If i understand correctly, UPS has nothing to do with my insurance after I retire as their contributions would cease when I leave employment.