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January 6, 2005

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Will 2005 be the year retirees get pension hikes?

By Paul Parson

Some wars are fought for long periods of time before one side prevails. Locally, one of these fights involves a group of retirees who are seeking hikes in the pensions they receive from their past work at Oak Ridge’s Department of Energy contractor-managed facilities.  This grassroots campaign essentially started in late 2000. Over the years, the Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees has claimed a couple of small victories, such as in 2001 when a significant amount of retirees were approved for pension increases of 4 percent to 23 percent – depending on date of retirement. And, several governing bodies, including the Oak Ridge City Council, have passed resolutions supporting the coalition’s cause.

However, the group has yet to reach one of its biggest goals, getting pension increases based on the year of retirement – ranging from around 3 percent for 2003 retirees to 40 percent for 1969 retirees. To accomplish this, coalition leaders say DOE’s contractors – including BWXT Y-12 and UT-Battelle – have to make a pension-hike proposal to the federal agency, which would ultimately approve or deny it. And, BWXT Y-12 is technically responsible for overseeing the pension fund in question.

Curious as to whether there would be some kind of resolution to this issue in the new year, I asked several federal and contractor officials about the matter. Here’s what they had to say:

Gerald Boyd, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Operations office – Boyd said he’d like to see some kind of resolution to this issue, but added: “Whatever’s done with pension and benefits in Oak Ridge has to be done in the context of the larger department and the larger U.S. government. Anything like this can’t be dealt with just on a local basis because it does have an impact on all of the other DOE sites. It has an impact on other federal operations across the country.”

Bill Brumley, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Oak Ridge office – “We do not have a comment on this. It’s probably best for us to not debate the pros and cons of this issue in the press.”

Dennis Ruddy, president of BWXT Y-12, the company that manages the Y-12 National Security Complex for the NNSA – “BWXT Y-12 has met and will continue to meet with representatives of CORRE to listen to their concerns about the pension plan. However, that issue is completely beyond our control.”

Dr. Jeff Wadsworth, president of UT-Battelle, the company that manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory – “Our priority continues to be to make sure that all current and future retirees receive every dollar to which they are entitled. Any changes in pension benefits must take into account the long term, and not just the short term, financial consequences for the pension fund.”

Mike Hughes, president of Bechtel Jacobs Co., the company that oversees DOE’s environmental cleanup program – “BJC has no comment.”

Based on those responses, I’m still curious.

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