If you’re a full-time UPS Teamster in the West, your pension will grow by approximately $1,500 a month during the proposed contract.
Before contract negotiations, the Trustees of every Pension Fund met with actuaries and reported to the IBT how much would be needed in the new contract to protect our pensions and maintain our pension accrual.
Pension Funds across the country reported that they did not need additional contributions to maintain their pension accruals.
With Teamster pension plans doing well, not just in the West but across the country, the union used our bargaining power to win record wage increases.
Myth: Western Pensions Will Be Frozen Under the Contract
One myth that is being spread online is that Teamster pensions in the West will be frozen under the contract. That’s a lie.
Your pension will grow every year. Over the course of the contract your pension will grow by approximately $1,500 a month.
Members’ pension benefits in the West are calculated by how much you accrue toward your monthly pension each year.
It varies a little bit local by local, but a UPS full-timer will accrue about $300/month each year toward their retirement or around $1,500/month over five years.
UPS will contribute more than $13 to $14 an hour into the pension for every full-timer.
In past contracts, UPS increased its contribution to the pension fund each year by around 50¢ an hour. We don’t know what the increase will be in the contract this time. The Pension Fund Trustees are working that out right now, but it will definitely be less than 50¢.
That is not the same as your pension being frozen.
Your pension is secure and you will accrue about $1,500/month toward your retirement over the length of this contract.
Myth: UPSers in the West are Subsidizing Weaker Pension Funds
A myth is being spread that Teamsters in the West are subsidizing weaker pension funds. That is false.
It is illegal for any pension fund to give money to another fund, or subsidize it’s members benefits—and it is not happening.
The contract treats every pension fund by the same rules.
A small number of funds are legally required under the Pension Protect Action to get increased contributions from UPS to maintain their pensions.
The contract makes UPS contribute enough to these funds to maintain their full pensions.
What about "Central States"?
More than 60,000 full-time UPSers in 22 states who used to be covered by the Central States Pension Fund are now in the IBT-UPS Pension Plan, where they receive pensions that are much lower than UPS Teamsters in the West for doing the same work.
The contract increases the pensions for members in the IBT-UPS Plan who retire at 35-at-55, 30-at-55 by $1,000/month to a maximum of $5,300 a month.
Members in the IBT-UPS fought for this increase and it is a victory. But Teamsters in the West will also see our pensions increase. During the contract, our pensions will accrue an additional $1,500 a month.
UPS Teamsters in the West will still have the best pension in the country. We can celebrate that and also celebrate pension increases won by our fellow Teamsters in the IBT-UPS Plan.
UPS plays divide and conquer. A union is about unity.
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