CTS retirement party 2010.

As bargaining talks continue, CWA members who are pension eligible are wondering if they should take the lump sum buyout before it becomes an option of the past.

In exchange for giving up the right to receive monthly pension benefits for the rest of their lives, the company would instead pay them an up-front lump sum of cash. A lump sum buyout of your defined benefit pension plan represents the present value of all payments due over your actuarial life valued as of the time you accept payment.

The lump sum option remains in effect while we are working under the 2008 Verizon contract. We don’t know if the company will continue to offer a lump sum buyout option in the next contract.

I have heard many members say that they will retire, rather then lose the option of a lump sum buyout. Whichever you choose, Verizon pension or cash buy out, do your homework before you make the choice.

Take the Money and Run… excerpt from an article by Dan Caplinger 

Accepting a lump sum in exchange for future payments has obvious appeal. Not only can you stop worrying about what might happen if your former employer runs into financial difficulties, but you also get the opportunity to take the money and invest it yourself — hopefully in a way that gives you better returns.

With pension lump-sums, you usually have the right to take the money and roll it over into an IRA of your own — avoiding negative tax consequences and getting the benefits of tax deferral during your retired years.

Moreover, the lump sum gives you some options that pension recipients don’t get. Most pension payments end after the worker’s death, with married workers often leaving survivor benefits to their spouses. A lump sum, however, lets you leave any leftover money for children and grandchildren or other purposes after you die.

Read the full story.

For more on retirement issues:

• Social Security Is in Big Trouble
• Don’t Leave Your Spouse Penniless
• Can You Bridge This Income Gap?
• A defined pension buyout information sheet
• Calculating the Value of a Pension Buyout Offer

By  Jordan Crook

We’ve received yet another bit of evidence confirming the next iPhone’s September 21 launch. According to an AT&T sales rep, AT&T staff has been given a vacation blackout from September 21 to September 30, just like Verizon employees. Our source also mentioned that blue carrier employees are undergoing training for an “iconic release.”

Read the story.

By Todd Shields

The Federal Communications Commission’s approval for Verizon Wireless to buy airwaves from cable companies came with conditions that Democrats said would preserve competition and Republicans, while voting to approve the deal, called excessive.

The FCC didn’t have authority to impose requirements for Verizon, the largest U.S. wireless provider, to share airwaves with rivals on commercial terms, Ajit Pai, a Republican commissioner, said in a statement released today as part of the agency’s order unanimously approving the $3.6 billion deal.

Verizon’s agreement to share airwaves, to allow data roaming, serve a core FCC duty to preserve competition, Julius Genachowski, the agency’s Democratic chairman, said in a statement. “The commission makes the right choice today in exercising our responsibilities and taking strong action,”Genachowski said.

Read the full story.

More News

FCC approves Verizon deal to buy cable company spectrum, asks for concessions

FCC Approves Verizon-Cable Deal; Consumers Face Dwindling Competition

Join Local 1101 at the Labor Day Parade Saturday, September 8, 2012. The parade begins at 10 am and marches up Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 72nd Street.

The Local 1101 contingent will assemble at West 48th St. between 5th and 6th Avenue at 11:00 am, stepping off at 1:00 pm.

Labor Mass, September 8th at 8:30 am, location: Cathedral of Saint Patrick, Fifth Ave. and 51st Street.

The Labor Day Parade is organized by the New York City Labor Council.

By Salvatore J. Armao,

August 21, 2012

Source Laborpress: http://bit.ly/R2iAzw

There is no better time than Labor Day to reflect on the words of American philosopher George Santayana (1863-­‐1952) who said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Did you know that American trade unions are firmly rooted in the Pilgrims arriving at Plymouth Rock in 1620? Colonial America saw the arrival of ear unions (also known as guilds) comprised of carpenters, cabinet makers, cordwainers (luxury shoe and boot makers) and cobblers. These very workers played a considerable role in the Founding Fathers’ great effort for independence. While we learned about the Boston Tea Party in 1773 during our school days, did you know that carpenters disguised as Mohawk Indians were the “host” group?

And there’s more American history directly tied into the labor movement. Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia was the site of both the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence. Taking the most memorable phase from the Declaration, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” printers were the first to go on strike in 1794 in New York, seeking shorter hours and higher pay. The movement was set in motion: Cabinet makers struck in 1796, carpenters in Philadelphia in 1797, and cordwainers in 1799.

This brings us to 2012and Santana’s quotation. In the words of U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis “Unions are still a crucial and articulate voice in advocating for workers and keeping families in the middle class…Having that voice makes a difference in all of our lives. The people who teach our children, the nurses who care for us when we are sick, the firefighters who run into burning buildings or the police who patrol the streets while we sleep need and deserve that voice, too. And when they have it, those of us who depend on them benefit from it.”

ConEd rally in Union Square 7-17-2012. Click photo to view album.

Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, representing 8,500 workers at the New York utility who were locked out for four weeks in July, announced on August 15 that the proposed contract had been ratified by a 93 percent margin.

The lopsided vote reflects the fact that workers felt there was little alternative to the concessions demanded by the company, given their union’s support for the takeaways and refusal to mount any struggle. Some workers reported that 40 percent of those eligible did not cast ballots at all. Judging from the reaction from meter readers and clerical workers who spoke to reporters from the WSWS at Con Ed’s headquarters in Manhattan, most of those who did vote were equally disgusted.

The final contract, whose terms were not announced until a few days after Con Ed workers returned after the lockout ended last month, includes major concessions on pensions, health care and other provisions.
Read the full story.

More Union News

Michigan Chrysler workers reject union-backed local contract

Union forces through concessions contract at Caterpillar in Illinois