BJC Pension Fund Management
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007Larry Long writes: Today, DOE announced that the planned increase in the cost of Pre-Age 65 Bechtel Jacobs Retiree medical benefits has been put on hold. Getting a reprieve is certainly welcome news, but we really need Bechtel Jacobs and DOE to step up and fix the total problem. There were 547 retirees that would have been severely impacted by the now deferred change. However, there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 grandfathered employees, scattered across Oak Ridge, Paducah and Portsmouth, impacted by the segregation of retirement benefits from the other Oak Ridge facilities.
DOE has focused on contracting the work with the expertise. Bechtel Jacobs is a fine construction company. They know how to tear things down. Bechtel Jacobs and DOE have accomplished a great deal in recent years. Those of us that have worked there take a great deal of pride in the accomplishments.
However, Bechtel Jacobs has no expertise in managing a retirement package for retired nuclear workers. Even a quick review of the cost of our medical benefits demonstrates that the cost are excessive when compared to the other Oak Ridge DOE sites. They have no vested interest in our retirement plan and shouldn't be asked to commit their energies in this direction. They should focus on the things that they are good at.
Bechtel Jacobs contract has been extended until 2011. Assuming that DOE doesn't provide BJC with another extension, they will cease to exist. The management of our retirement plan will have to go somewhere when BJC goes away and as time goes on, our numbers will decrease and the cost of overhead will increase. BJC should proactively move out and work with DOE to move our retirement back in with Y-12 and ORNL. Why not reap the benefits of a larger base now?
As a BJC retiree, I feel the effects of discrimination. Maybe, we all need to feel this from time to time so that we scream when we see injustice. As I have previously stated, many of us worked for Y-12 and ORNL but fate put us at Bechtel Jacobs at the time of retirement. We worked under some extreme circumstances, but we accomplished much. We should not be treated differently.
Before proceeding any further, I urge Bechtel Jacobs and DOE to look closely at the cost of the current BJC retirement package, the plans for future management of this package, and the inequities that currently exist. It's time to make it right!
