Dave Reichle asks Senator Alexander to endorse CORRE requests-
Dave Reichle, President of CORRE had the following letter to Senator Alexander hand-delivered to Senator Alexander today at the meeting at the Farragut Town Hall. Pete Lotts briefly addressed the Senator on pension issues during the Senator's appearance in Farragut and gave him a copy of the letter and a tabulation of the economic impact the proposed pension adjustments.
Senator Alexander replied that he and his staff are on top of the issue and that he is an advocate for the retirees. He said that the principal problem is that there is a difference in opinion over whether there is sufficient surplus to grant the requests of CORRE on behalf of retirees. From other sources we know that his staff is working on getting that clarified.
-- text of the letter to Senator Alexander-
Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees (CORRE)
Working for Fair, Equitable, and Competitive Benefits
For Former K-25, Y-12, and ORNL Employees
P. O. Box 4266
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-4266
October 10, 2007
Senator Lamar Alexander
800 Market Street, Suite 112
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
Dear Senator Alexander:
Request for Your Endorsement of Oak Ridge Retirees Pension Needs
We respectfully request that you endorse the pension needs of the Oak Ridge retirees, as outlined by the Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees (CORRE). We would further request that you communicate your decision in writing to the Secretary of Energy and its operating contractors in Oak Ridge with retirees in the government-sponsored pension funds here. Moreover, we are asking you to request DOE management and the contractors to grant these reasonable requests in the current Fiscal Year. The requests of the retirees are:
1. An adjustment in pension benefits for all retirees that will restore 75 percent of the lost buying power of their pensions that occurred due to the increased cost of living since their retirement. An overall adjustment averaging about 1.8 percent per year since retirement would accomplish this. We have been requesting this adjustment for the past four years and have been ignored!
2. A flat-rate reduction factor of 2 percent for retirees who have chosen the surviving spouse option effective July 2004 (same benefit that was extended to active employees in July 2004 and requested by CORRE at the same time).
The surplus for the multi-employer pension plan is now approximately $800 million, about 135% of actuarial requirement. We estimate the benefits requested would cost about $200 million. Adherence of the contractors and DOE to this need would continue the historical practice by all previous DOE Oak Ridge contractors of granting adjustments to the pensions based on loss of pension earning power.
We know that you cannot order DOE, or the contractors, to do anything with respect to the pensions. On the other hand, we know the moral imperative stated by you in terms of an expectation of what they should do, in all fairness and equity for retirees, will weigh heavily on what they decide to do on this issue. We have briefed your staff thoroughly concerning the details on this issue.
We hope you will agree with us and will act expeditiously to help restore some equity to the pension program for Oak Ridge retirees, who rightfully deserve to be treated as fairly as retirees in other states.
Sincerely,
Original signed by David Reichle-
David E. Reichle, CORRE President
CC: Tennessee Congressional Delegation
October 10th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Great letter President Dave. As a retiree, I certainly appreciate all the time and effort you put in on behalf of all Oak Ridge retirees. Some of us are getting by financially today, but we won’t be after we’ve been retired thirty years like many of our fellow retirees, unless we get the justified adjustments.
I personally resent the contractors “sweetening the pension pot” for current and future employees using monies that were put in the fund before 1985 at the expense of those persons who retired before while excluding the earlier retirees.
Senator Alexander says that the principal problem is that there is a difference in opinion over whether there is sufficient surplus to grant the requests of CORRE on behalf of retirees.
Clearly if no new monies are ever added to the pension fund and the contractors continue to increase the pension benefits of all existing employees and all future employees while salaries continue to increase, and it is deemed that the fund has to cover all future liabilities there won’t be enough money in the fund to cover pensions for everyone forever. Duh!
Was that what was expected in 1984 when the last contribution to the fund was made? What if the last contribution had been made in 1974? 1964?
1954? Is this rocket science or what?