Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation:  Long-Term Financing Risks to Single Employer Insurance Program Highlight Need for Comprehensive Reform A report by Barbara D. Bovbjerg, director, education, workforce and income security issues, before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. GAO-04-150T, October 14. full text http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-150T What GAO Found: The single-employer pension insurance program returned to an accumulated deficit in 2002 largely due to the termination, or expected termination, of several severely underfunded pension plans. Factors that contributed to the severity of plans' underfunded condition included a sharp stock market decline, which reduced plan assets, and an interest rate decline, which increased plan termination costs. For example, PBGC estimates losses to the program from terminating the Bethlehem Steel pension plan, which was nearly fully funded in 1999 based on reports to IRS, at $3.7 billion when it was terminated in 2002. The plan's assets had decreased by over $2.5 billion, while its liabilities had increased by about $1.4 billion since 1999. The single-employer program faces two primary risks to its long-term financial viability. First, the losses experienced in 2002 could continue or accelerate if, for example, structural problems in particular industries result in additional bankruptcies. Second, revenue from premiums and investments might be inadequate to offset program losses experienced to date or those that occur in the future. Revenue from premiums might fall, for example, if the number of program participants decreases. Because of these risks, we recently placed the single-employer insurance program on our high-risk list of agencies with significant vulnerabilities to the federal government. While there is not an immediate crisis, there is a serious problem threatening the retirement security of millions of American workers and retirees. Several reforms might reduce the risks to the program's longterm financial viability. Such changes include: strengthening funding rules applicable to poorly funded plans, modifying program guarantees, restructuring premiums, and improving the availability of information about plan investments, termination funding, and program guarantees. Any changes adopted to address the challenge facing PBGC should provide a means to hold plan sponsors accountable for adequately funding their plans, provide plan sponsors with incentives to increase plan funding, and improve the transparency of plan information. Source: IWS Documented News Service, School of Industrial & Labor Relations, Cornell University 12:39:37 PM    comment []

Rising Health-Care Costs at Heart of Labor Strife Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fi-health14oct14001418,1,12804,print.story By Nancy Cleeland and Marla Dickerson, Times Staff Writers October 14, 2003 When Southland supermarket workers went on strike Saturday, their main beef was an employer proposal to cut back their health plan. Mechanics with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are squawking over the same thing. And health benefits are key to the contract fight that has prompted a sickout by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies. Around Southern California and across the country, attempts by employers to curtail medical benefits have become the top issue in labor contract talks, setting off a wave of strikes and other job actions that are likely to escalate as health insurance costs continue to balloon. "It's at the core of every major contract struggle," said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of Labor Education Research at Cornell University. "And it's going to be an issue until we see some national solutions." In fact, at least half the strikes in California this year have been staged over health benefits, according to KEN JACOBS, A RESEARCHER AT THE UC BERKELEY LABOR CENTER. He counted 11 such work stoppages in a four-month period this year in Northern California....   Source: UC Berkeley in the News 12:16:43 PM    comment []

CALL FOR PAPERS - Reformulating Industrial Relations in Liberal Market Economies The 2004 annual conference of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA) will be held at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada, from June 4 to 6, in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Canadian sociology, political science, historical, law and society, and socialist studies associations, and those of other associations affiliated with the Canadian Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. The conference is intended to serve as a forum not just for the presentation of mainstream IR research, but also for going beyond this research in a way that broadens and deepens the study of work and employment and fosters cross-disciplinary exchange on a broad range of issues. As part of a broader initiative to promote this ideal, all papers at the Congress related to work and employment will, regardless of association, be included within a single program and co-ordinated where possible. The theme will be "reformulating industrial relations" both as a field of study and as an area of policy and practice, with a particular emphasis on liberal market economies (esp. Canada, Britain, and the U.S.). The main objectives will be to encourage: 1. theoretically or empirically grounded analyses of employer, union, and, especially, state policies and practices in Canada, Britain, and the U.S., ideally from diverse perspectives (e.g., feminist, legal, moral, historical) and/or with a comparative focus. 2. papers on topics that are relevant to work and employment studies but which tend to be either fragmented among a number of associations and disciplines or typically considered "outside" of the field  of IR (e.g., social policy, family studies, women's studies). 3. papers assessing potential theoretical and conceptual contributions from disciplines and areas of relevance to the study of work and employment, especially those that hold promise for broadening or deepening the field of IR (e.g., the new institutionalist and varieties of capitalism literature). Although papers and session proposals on all topics relevant to work and employment studies will be considered, those that address these objectives, either through original analysis or through a review of relevant literature and its implications for work and employment studies, are especially encouraged. Three such papers will be chosen for presentation in the opening plenary session. The authors of these and possibly other  papers may qualify for up to $1,000 (Cdn.) in assistance, especially if travelling from overseas. All proposals and requests for further information should be submitted to <CIRA_ACRI@umanitoba.ca>; prior to March 1, 2004. Paper proposals should be between 200 and 400 words and should include any request for travel assistance if intended for the plenary. Session proposals should include at least three paper proposals. NOTE: Papers may be written and presented in either French or English. However, to ensure proper evaluation and placement, all proposals should be in both English and French if at all possible.  The language to be used for purposes of presentation should also be noted.   Source: IRRA National Office,  www.irra.uiuc.edu or email: irra@uiuc.edu. 9:26:20 AM    comment []

Carpenters win right to elect regional council officers   In a major victory for union democracy, New England carpenters have won the right to directly elect the officers of their regional council. On October 8, federal judge Richard Stearns in Massachusetts directed the U.S. Department of Labor to order the New England Regional Council of Carpenters (NERC) to hold officer elections....   See the rest of the article plus the text of the judge's order and links to related articles: http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/articles51.htm   Association for Union Democracy 104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11225; USA mailto:aud@igc.org http://www.uniondemocracy.org 9:18:56 AM    comment []

Copyright 2003 Lincoln Cushing