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Knoxville News Sentinel Article

Some Oak Ridge retirees to get pension boost

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
January 8, 2004

OAK RIDGE — About 1,200 Oak Ridge retirees or surviving spouses will get a pension increase under a plan announced today.

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp's office released a letter from a federal official that approves the pension amendment. The intent is to help contractor employees who retired years ago and have seen the value of their benefits eroded deeply by inflation.
Wamp, R-Tenn., worked with the Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees to push for an amended benefits package that helps those who worked for more than 20 years at the Cold War nuclear facilities.

"Some of these seniors only bring home around $150 a month from their pensions, which are wiped out by medical premiums alone,'' Wamp said in a statement. "This is unacceptable, and a change was needed."

According to the congressmen, the amended pension plan means all contractor retirees will receive at least $600 a month and surviving spouses will get at least $400.

Linton Brooks, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administrator, a part of the U.S. Department of Energy, approved the Oak Ridge pension amendment in a Jan. 7 letter. It will be implemented "following review and issuance of the final pension plan amendment," Brooks said.

Steven Wyatt, a DOE spokesman in Oak Ridge, said, "We are extremely pleased that the request for an adjustment to the ad hoc pension benefit has been approved by DOE headquarters." Wyatt said the change wouldn't have been possible without the help of Wamp.

The congressman said there should be plenty of money to support the increases.

"As the market has changed, the overall pension fund for the Oak Ridge workers has fluctuated, but it is certainly healthy enough to absorb the amount needed to help this group of deserving retirees,'' Wamp said.

The retirees receiving the new benefit are those who retired before 1994 with 20 or more years of full-time service or those who retired after 1994 as a result of an involuntary layoff.

Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.