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Membership Review Committee Minutes

Present: Joe Dykstra, John Roy Gray, Jackie Holloway, Ben Johnson, Charlie Kuykendall, Tom Lemons, Marigrace Kirstowsky, Pete Lotts, Dave Reichle, Mary Helen Rose, Joe Setaro, Troy Trotter, Bob Wesley, Don Wood, Bob Worrell

Opening Remarks. Charlie Kuykendall talked about other pension plans, reading excerpts from a newsletter. He said that, at Y-12 yesterday where Rep Wamp was present for the 60-year celebration, he had the good fortune of "bumping" into a lot of staff that our Legislative people have been working with, while several of them were waiting for Wamp’s arrival. Charlie said they were very positive about our work. He said our Legislative committee members have been working really hard.

Secretary & Treasurer’s Report. Mary Helen Rose highlighted her Treasurer’s report, copies of which had been distributed to board members. Balance on hand January 31, 2003, was $35,995.83, with a total of about 1,656 Active Members.

Communications. Bob Wesley was recently asked to talk to the Rotary Club on Y‐12 history. In the process, he mentioned that we have over 12,000 retirees or surviving spouses, and that CORRE is trying to protect the benefits that we have and hopefully to increase them.

Lotts raised a question about Wesley’s writing an article which would cite the differences in our pensions from that of other DOE laboratories. Wesley and Kuykendall will discuss what extracts we could use from the background paper (attached to the draft for Wamp’s office) for a future article in Retiree News.

John Roy Gray has now taken over the Website. He asked board members to look at www.drjrg.info/corre/ which is a version he has set up. If board members see no problems with it, he will put it on www.corre.info, which Lotts set up and has been maintaining. Lotts expressed very great appreciation to Gray for taking over that assignment.

Legislative Report. Pete Lotts stated that the committee has been working hard with Representative Wamp’s office to get them to send out our draft letter to the Secretary of Energy and others. He had just received an e-mail from Linda Ponce, stating that they wanted the whole Tennessee delegation to sign the letter. After some discussion, it was decided that this will delay the process, since representatives in other areas of the state would have to be familiarized with CORRE.  Lotts will talk with Linda Ponce about it. Lotts is preparing a letter to Dean Rice of Representative Duncan’s office, responding to the one we received.

Meeting with UT-Battelle. Joe Setaro reported that he and Charlie Kuykendall met on February 5 with ORNL representatives, Darryl R. Boykins, Director, Human Resources & Diversity Program; and Mark O. Wagner, Manager, Employee Benefits. Boykins and Wagner discussed a recent presentation of the Pension Plan Report that was made to DOE on January 29, 2003, and presented CORRE with copies of the presentation.


We furnished copies of the latest (and final) 2002 Position Paper and discussed all three goals. (The 15% increase, minimum pensions, and representation on the pension board). ORNL indicated that an advisory group is being formed and would have input regarding benefit plans. The group would include retirees, current employees, union, etc. CORRE would be included in this group. ORNL again stated that the "Pension Board" itself is concerned with the investments of the fund rather than what benefits are being given. They feel that the advisory group they plan to form would be the best way for CORRE to have input.


We discussed the minimum pension goal, and the 15% ad hoc increase, as proposed in the Position Paper. Boykins said there had been favorable talk about the minimum pensions and that the 15% goal is "not off the screen," and Bill Madia has asked about it. Of course, there was no commitment by ORNL at this time. Action items:


BWXT has a consultant currently looking at Health Benefits. The consultant should have something submitted within 4-6 weeks. ORNL will contact Kuykendall or Setaro within 6 weeks.


ORNL has a pension meeting with BWXT in February (around the 12^th or 13^th) and will follow up on the minimum pension.


Advisory Board – There appears to be no opposition, and it will probably go in at the start of the plan year. A lot depends on DOE’s allowing BWXT and UT-Battelle to split the Pension Plan.

ORNL agreed to continue the quarterly meetings with CORRE. The second month of the quarter is probably the best time, since reviews of the Pension Plan appear to occur in the first month.

Meeting with BWXT Y-12. Bob Worrell reported that he and Kuykendall met on February 17^th with Norm Sparks and Maureen Mendez at BWXT Y‐12. They mentioned that they are having very serious problems with health-care costs. A consultant is reviewing health-care benefits. We did not get any concessions from them, though they are sympathetic with the need for minimum pensions, and they think that will be done at some point. They are fearful that they will have to start contributing as much as $100 million to the Pension Plan in 2004. The current value of the plan is $2.287 billion, the lowest we have seen. The Plan liability is about $2.1 billion, according to our rough estimate. Worrell has reviewed the Plan Book, which Kuykendall thinks will be helpful.

We were asked to come back in two months for our next meeting, rather than quarterly. They are thinking about setting up another advisory board, and may ask us to join them on that board.

CORRE Tax-Exempt Status. Don Wood said the application has not really moved any, as our organization doesn’t seem to fit into any of the IRS categories. It was decided that Ben Johnson will consult with a tax attorney and bring back a recommendation. Some expense may be involved.

CORRE Membership Review Committee. Reichle distributed copies of the committee’s report dated February 19, 2003. He reviewed the recommendation, and talked about the advantages and disadvantages to expanding CORRE’s membership. He then moved, and motion was seconded and passed, that the board approve the committee’s recommendation as stated in their report (copy attached to minutes).

Nominating Committee . Bob Worrell stated that he had nothing to report, but called for a brief meeting of committee members following adjournment.

Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Mary Helen Rose, Board Secretary

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CORRE should promote inclusiveness and represent those retirees who are participants in the same, or similar, pension plans of Oak Ridge DOE prime contractors, and which plans are subject to DOE approval. This would include retirees of Bechtel-Jacobs, BWXT, UT‐Battelle, and Wackenhut.

CORRE will continue to request adjustments for vested retirees.

 

Increases the membership represented by CORRE and, hence, CORRE’s influence.

Creates one inclusive organization representing retiree pensions and avoids duplicate, and possibly conflicting, organizations.

Gives DOE one agent representing retirees to whom they can refer to as recommending a balanced position.

Focuses communications with DOE and Congressional representatives, since the pension plan design is similar and the approval process is the same.

Allows CORRE to put positive and unified pressure on DOE and Contractor management to put money into the pension fund to maintain pension values.

 

Retirees in different plans may have different objectives.

CORRE would need to expand its efforts to include all DOE Prime Contractors in Oak Ridge.

Committee Members

Jackie Holloway

Dave Reichle, Chairman

Gary Riser

Bob Worrell

 

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