May 9, 2007: Hundreds of thousands of Teamsters covered by the Western Plan are still facing a nearly 40 percent pension cut even though the fund is 100 percent funded.

The Western Fund will be even more flush after the UPS agreement. UPS will be required to increase its contributions by at least eight percent a year in Central States, and the West will get the same. By the end of the agreement, UPS will be putting $8 an hour into the pension fund.

What will this mean to UPS Teamsters in the West? The “Best Contract Ever” and the pension cuts that followed reduced the monthly pension benefit by $500.

Will record contributions in the West fully restore the pension multiplier to the historic minimum of 2.2 and 2.65 for all Teamsters with twenty or more years? Will the multiplier go higher or will the fund increase benefits by bringing back bonus years?

Keep in mind that more money bargained into pensions will likely mean a lower wage increase.