Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! We have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. You need to know this news in the fight for a secure retirement.
Boeing employees continue to strike. Why? Pensions.
A decade after Boeing nixed pensions for its employees, it is finally facing the backlash. This week, workers on strike rejected a new contract because there was a glaring omission that strikers won’t budge on–pensions. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents 33,000 Boeing workers in Washington, Oregon, and California, reported that 64% of striking workers voted down the most recent proposal, which included upping Boeing’s contribution to 401(k) plans, a $7,000 ratification bonus for each worker, performance bonuses, and a 35% pay increase over four years.
Speaking of the company’s original slashing of a pension plan for employees, “This contract struggle began over ten years ago when the company overreached and created a wound that may never heal for many members,” said Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751 in Seattle. “I don’t have to tell you all how challenging it has been for our membership through the pandemic, the crashes, massive inflation, and the need to address the losses stemming from the 2014 contract.”
Boeing is set to lose as much as $5.5 billion due to work stoppage.
Missouri’s Amendment 6 aims to fill public safety vacancies.
This November, voters in Missouri will decide on the ballot that could ease staffing woes in public safety departments. Amendment 6 would include a provision in the Missouri Constitution to support salaries and benefits for law enforcement, a move that officials hope will keep public safety personnel fully staffed, including sheriffs and state-employed attorneys.
Cass County Sheriff Jeff Weber said, “If there is no retirement for that job, you’re going to find fewer and fewer people and much less qualified people that are going to want to do that job. That is going to hurt every community across the state. It’s going to have a drastic impact on public safety.”
Amendment 6, which will not affect taxes and includes a $3 court fee levied on criminals, has had some pushback from the Fines and Fees Justice Center and the National Police Accountability Project (NPAP). NPAP Executive Director Lauren Bonds explained, “We’re obviously not opposed to hardworking public employees having salaries and pensions, but there are better ways and consistent revenue streams that would be available.”
High Alert: Pension opponents are laying the groundwork for more reforms.
In the wake of COVID-19, state budgets were flush with pandemic funds, record spending, and historic tax cuts. But as those extra funds begin to dwindle, talk of downsizing state budgets leaves pensions vulnerable, and right-wing think tanks are starting to crank out propaganda to advance their agendas. The Reason Foundation, which funds the Yankee Institute, is ramping up confusing rhetoric in states like Connecticut, where antiquated fiscal guardrails have helped the state recoup billions of dollars in public pension funds in attempts to cause a rift between taxpayers and state lawmakers.
Be sure to check back next Friday for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement! For now, sign up for NPPC News Clips to receive daily pension news from across the country directly to your inbox.