August 11, 2010: Hoffa and Hall’s decision to let UPS pull out of Central States saved the company billions. It also locked tens of thousands of Teamsters into a substandard pension.
The Hoffa-Hall UPS Pension Plan pays the lowest pension benefits to UPS Teamsters in the country.
The plan covers 44,000 UPS Teamsters in the Carolinas and Central and Southern regions—the single largest group of UPS Teamsters covered by any plan.
The pensions of these Teamsters are frozen at $2,500 a month at 25 & 57 and $3,000 for 30 & Out. Tens of thousands of Teamsters in the West and in various Eastern pension plans get monthly pensions of $3,500 or $4,000-plus a month—in some cases $5,000.
UPS is saving more than $450 million in reduced contributions every year. The company pays approximately $3.12 an hour into the Hoffa-Hall-UPS pension plan—compared to hourly contributions of $7 to $8 an hour in Teamster funds.
No wonder Teamster funds pay superior benefits.
From Bad to Worse
“I went from a broke pension plan, the Central States, to a company-dominated plan that locks me and nearly 50,000 other UPSers into a substandard benefit.
“Why does the biggest pension plan for UPS Teamsters pay the lowest pension?”
Michael Savwoir, Local 41 Feeder Driver, Kansas City