February 15, 2006
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| CORRE Minutes February 15, 2006 |
Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees
Minutes of Board Meeting on February 15, 2006, 2:00 p.m. Oak Ridge Senior Center Present: Sandy Dean, Joe Dykstra, Ben Gaylor, Bob Henderson, Bob Keil, Charlie Kuykendall, Tom Lemons, Pete Lotts, Ed Mee, Ken Moore, Pete Peterson, Dave Reichle, Mary Helen Rose, Joe Setaro, Fred Shull, Troy Trotter, Don Wood, Bob Worrell. 1. Opening Remarks. President Dave Reichle welcomed Bob Henderson, a new Advisor, to the meeting and urged him to attend whenever he can. Bob Worrell and Charlie Kuykendall reported that the Nominating Committee has chosen Ken Moore to serve out the balance of the two-year term (2006-2007), replacing Ben Johnson, who was elected in October but died early in December. Ken retired from Auditing in 1994, and has been an “active” CORRE member for some time. Motion passed to approve appointment of Ken Moore to the Board. Reichle distributed copies of a letter which Congressman Zach Wamp is now sending to retirees in response to their communications to him. Reichle stated that the impact of our ads, letters, calls, etc., has been felt at DOE-HQ. Reichle said we owe Fred Postma a debt of gratitude for the work he has been doing on our website. He suggested that board members look at the site. Reichle and Bob Worrell met at BWXT Y-12 a few days ago with the new HR Director at her request, and with Susan Alexander. They learned a bit about what the change to our Pension Fund would be if actuarial tables are updated (from 1983 to 1994 data). Regarding Bechtel Jacobs and Wackenhut, Reichle asked Fred Shull to work with Teresa Riggs and Mike Bradshaw to develop asset/liability/surplus tables for those pension funds. He said we need to get a better understanding of those funds and what present employees are promised for retirement. Pete Lotts said we need to point out to DOE the inequities that have developed in Oak Ridge over the past few years, especially with different contract provisions for the various contractors. Reichle stated that he has been requested to appoint a Membership Committee, but he has not done so as yet. There was discussed as to ways to recruit additional CORRE members. 2. Report on Trip to D. C. Reichle stated that he and Charlie Kuykendall made the trip to Washington. Pete Lotts, Bob Keil, and Joe Setaro worked to help get them prepared. Kuykendall stated that they could not have had better arrangements, as it turned out. They met with bright staffers, who took good notes, and briefing books were left with them. A copy of Reichle’s report is attached. 3. Secretary/Treasurer’s Report. Mary Helen Rose highlighted her Treasurer’s report for January, copies of which had been distributed to board members. Balance as of January 31, 2006, was $43,314.03, with a total of about 2,632 Active Members. She stated that she has turned all the Treasurer’s records over to Ken Moore, who will audit them in the next few days. 4. Communications. Sandy Dean stated that there have been lots of articles in the newspapers, from lots of people. There were two letters to the editor of the News Sentinel in response to Frank Munger’s article a few days ago. The next issue of BWXT Y-12’s Retiree News will be for March-April, and the deadline is March 15. Sandy asked for ideas as to what CORRE should submit for CORRE Corner. She will work with Reichle to develop our submission. 5. ORNL Benefits Advisory Committee. Joe Setaro reported that the group at ORNL met on January 30, two weeks later than usual due to the Martin Luther King holiday. Two items were discussed, the first having to do with a split that was set for April 5 of benefits other than pension (later information makes this in question). The other item had to do with additional benefits that are being considered for active employees, such as insurance plans. Cost of such benefits would be paid for entirely by the employee, with no split by the company. Regarding retirees, offer of a dental/vision plan is scheduled for April 1. There is no indication yet as to what premiums would be. Payroll deductions would apply. 6. Legislative Committee. Lotts noted that we have already heard about the trip to Washington by Reichle and Kuykendall. Reichle and Setaro are working with Congressman Wamp’s staff. Lotts said we just need to keep the letter writing up and the articles going in the newspapers. He asked for suggestions as to other contacts we could make. Reichle stated that he got contacted by Channel 12 in Oak Ridge and appeared on their local show. They may be able to help us more later. 7. Strategic Planning. Charlie Kuykendall reviewed a list of possible next steps CORRE needs to take. He said the political action part is going to take an awful lot of work. We need to keep on with the letter writing and put pressure on legislators. We have been lucky lately in getting good media coverage. Next steps: we need to get retirees engaged, possibly with workshops to get them better informed. He noted that the next annual meeting is going to be held in the summer, and we need a town-hall type meeting. 8. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m. Mary
Helen Rose, CORRE
Secretary
CORRE Meetings in Washington, D.C. January 23-24, 2006 D. E. Reichle and W. C Kuykendall met with staff of the following Congressional Offices, briefing each on the Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees (CORRE), the pension issues of DOE contractor retirees in Oak Ridge, the status of the Multi-Employer Pension Trust Fund in Oak Ridge, and CORRE’s request for pension benefit improvements. Each office was provided with briefing notebooks containing CORRE’s 2005 Position Paper, Pension Fund assets and liabilities, a history of Contractor use of pension fund assets, and resolutions of support for CORRE from the State of Tennessee and local governmental bodies. The following are listed in order of the scheduled meetings. Office of Congressman John Duncan, TN Second District. Staff representative: Don Walker, Deputy Chief of Staff, 2267 House Rayburn Office Building. We were referred by Bob Griffitts, Chief of Staff, and Jonathan Griswold of Duncan’s Knoxville Office. These two individuals are responsible for the Oak Ridge pension issues for Congressman Duncan and are well-informed. Office of Senator William Frist, TN, Senate Majority Leader, 509 Hart Senate Office Building. Staff representative: Allison Martin, Project Director and Legislative Council. Joint briefing on January 24 from 9:30 – 11:00 AM in Senator Frist’s office with the staff of Senator Lamar Alexander. Office of Senator Lamar Alexander, TN. 302 Hart Senate Office Building. Staff representative: Derek Horne, Legislative Correspondent. The Frist/Alexander meeting was a long one, and we discussed all the pertinent issues in detail. Office of Jerry Paul, Principal Deputy Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Responsible for NNSA operations and non-proliferation. Kuykendall met with him privately from 11:15-11:45 a.m. on January 24 and briefed him on the retirees’ issues in Oak Ridge and why CORRE representatives were in Washington. Office of Zach Wamp, Third District, TN, 1436 House Longworth Office Building. We stopped by to pay our respects to the staff. Since the House was not in session, Rep.Zach Wamp and Helen Hardin (Wamp’s Chief of Staff) were in East Tennessee. A conference call between CORRE representatives and Helen Hardin was already scheduled for January 25. Office of Congressman Harold Ford, Ninth District TN, 325 House Cannon Office Building. Staff representatives Mark Schuermann, Chief of Staff; and Robert Sepucha, Senior Policy Director. We thanked them for Ford’s signing the Congressional Delegation letter in CORRE’s support in 2001, and said we were here (1) at Jim Hester’s request to brief them on a key issue for East Tennessee. Staff members were eager to learn and asked about key issues. We shared copies of local newspaper articles and correspondence between CORRE and DOE and letters written by other elected officials. They wanted to know what they could do to help. Office of Congressman Lincoln Davis. Fourth Congressional District, TN. Since the House was not in session, the Congressman was in Tennessee. Congressman Davis has been supportive of retirees in Tennessee. CORRE has scheduled an office visit with him the next time that he is in Tennessee. |
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Working for Fair, Equitable, and Competitive Benefitsfor13,000 Former K-25, Y-12, and ORNL EmployeesCoalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees P.O. Box 4266, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-4366
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| Date Modified: 13 March 2007 |