November 14, 2008: The Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund has cut the pension accrual rate, effective Jan. 1, 2009, to 1.2 percent of employer contributions.

For 2008 the accrual rate was two percent for Teamsters with less than 20 years in the fund, and 2.65 percent for 20-plus years. So this is approximately a 50 percent cut in what each Teamster will add to their pension next year.

The Western Fund is well funded and is in the “Green Zone” under the Pension Protection Act (PPA) standards. This big cut was imposed because of the recent nose dive in the stock market.

TDU will obtain and make available documents that the fund must disclose because of requirements in the PPA, as soon as they are available.