March 15, 2013: Does a ten-year freeze in pension benefits sound too long to you? That is what half of all UPS full-time Teamsters could face, unless there are improvements put in Article 34 of the UPS National Contract.

The IBT-UPS Pension Plan covers Teamsters in 24 states (the southern region, the Carolinas, and most of the central region), but this plan has the lowest benefits of all Teamster pension plans!

Fortunately, that situation can be corrected now, in this contract. The benefit levels ($3,000 for 30-and-out; $2,000 25-and-out) are specified right in Article 34, Section 1, and have been the same since 2007 when the contract was ratified.

Unless there is a significant boost in benefits, they could be frozen until 2018, with no improvements for inflation. With inflation of three percent a year that $3,000 would be worth only $1,971 in 2018.

So a $1,000 increase in benefits is needed just to keep benefits from going backward.

The International union has already conceded that retirees under the company plan will have to pay more for health insurance in the future.

UPS runs this pension plan right out of the Atlanta headquarters. It costs them far less money than other plans for full-timers, because of the lower benefits and its status as a single-employer plan.

Don't settle short and regret it later. Demand a pension increase. No excuses.