Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • LOGIN
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE Act 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2022 Innovation Investing Conference
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • 2022 Alternatives Investing Conference
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Print
August 04, 1997 01:00 AM

PENSIONS ISSUE IN UPS TALKS: UNION FIGHTS BID TO CREATE FUND

Margaret Price
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    ATLANTA - UPS' desire to quit the multiemployer pension plans used by its Teamsters union workers and create a company-sponsored pension plan was key to the breakdown in contract talks last week.

    Officials of United Parcel Service of America, Atlanta, said withdrawing from the multiemployer plans was the major stumbling block to reaching agreement over a new contract for UPS' roughly 190,000 workers that belong to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

    At presstime, a strike had been postponed while contract negotiations continued. The old contract expired at midnight July 31.

    UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg told Pensions & Investments: "Our chief negotiator said this (pension) issue is the one that they (the union) keep stonewalling on."

    According to a union representative, a range of issues is on the table, including salaries, job security, the creation of more full-time jobs and better working conditions, as well as pensions.

    UPS wants to create a company-controlled defined benefit plan jointly trusteed by the company and the union.

    Charles Rader, director of the office of benefits for the Teamsters in Washington, said UPS accounts for about 15% of the 750,000 participants in Teamster multiemployer plans, whose assets total $60 billion.

    The two sides can't even agree on how many pension plans are involved. UPS said it wants to withdraw from 31 multiemployer plans to which it now contributes; the union said the number is 22.

    UPS' Ms. Rosenberg said the company would pay any outstanding liabilities owed the multiemployer pension funds. Although she did not say how much that would cost the company, the Teamsters' Mr. Rader said UPS would owe between $880 million and $938 million in withdrawal penalties.

    In a statement, UPS noted that by remaining with the multiemployer plans, the company subsidizes benefits of retirees from other companies. Because of bankruptcies and withdrawals, fewer companies are contributing to these Teamster multiemployer plans.

    The UPS statement also said the existing plans "are not producing sufficient retirement benefits" for UPS workers.

    Ms. Rosenberg said the proposed new pension plan would provide an average 50% increase in monthly benefits.

    But Mr. Rader of the Teamsters insists restraining benefits over the long run is a key reason UPS wants out.

    "UPS has a horrible record running benefits for their (workers)," he said. For example, "they had a plan for part-time UPS Teamsters' workers that they ran alone. And in 10 years, they never improved the benefits of it," he said.

    In contrast, "Teamsters have the best benefits of any workers and wouldn't want to trade them for pie-in-the-sky promises."

    UPS spokeswoman Erica Webster denied UPS was trying to hold down benefits by creating a new Teamsters pension plan.

    According to Mr. Rader, UPS is the largest company contributor to most of the multiemployer plans in which it participates. And it is the biggest single corporate contributor to the Teamsters' Central States pension fund, accounting for 18% of total annual contributions.

    UPS' withdrawal "would undermine all the ones (other companies) that are in it," said attorney William Hanrahan, a principal in the Washington law firm of Groom & Nordberg. Without UPS, the multiemployer plans "would have less of a contribution base," he said.

    "The security one finds in multiemployer funds come from the fact that a large group of employers spreads the risk around. If you see an exodus of even one large employer, the ones that remain might think of doing the same thing," Mr. Hanrahan said.

    He also noted if UPS creates its own plan, the company might be able to get more control of its benefits packages. "This could mean lower costs of benefits. It also could mean it offers more attractive benefits packages to retain employees, and might even allow them to do both - cut costs and offer better packages - by doing it themselves."

    Recommended for You
    Read the print edition of P&I
    Read the print edition of P&I
    How low is low? Projections say it's not low enough
    How low is low? Projections say it's not low enough
    FINRA honors Wharton's Olivia Mitchell with Ketchum Prize
    FINRA honors Wharton's Olivia Mitchell with Ketchum Prize
    OCIO, Anchor in Rough Seas
    Sponsored Content: OCIO, Anchor in Rough Seas

    Reader Poll

    May 23, 2022
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Crossroads: Politics, Inflation, & Bonds
    Credit Indices: Closing the Fixed Income Evolutionary Gap
    Forever in Style: Benchmarking with the Morningstar® Broad Style Indexes℠
    Q2 2022 Credit Outlook: Carry On
    Leverage does not equal risk
    Is there a mid-cap gap in your DC plan?
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    May 23, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE Act 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2022 Innovation Investing Conference
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
      • 2022 Alternatives Investing Conference