Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees (CORRE)
Working for Fair, Equitable, and Competitive Benefits
For Former K-25, Y-12, and ORNL Employees
P. O. Box 4266
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-4266
October 10, 2007
Senator Lamar Alexander
800 Market Street, Suite 112
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
Dear Senator Alexander:
Request for Your Endorsement of Oak Ridge Retirees Pension Needs
We respectfully request that you endorse the pension needs of the Oak
Ridge retirees, as outlined by the Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired
Employees (CORRE). We would further request that you communicate
your decision in writing to the Secretary of Energy and its operating
contractors in Oak Ridge with retirees in the government-sponsored
pension funds here. Moreover, we are asking you to request DOE
management and the contractors to grant these reasonable requests in
the current Fiscal Year. The requests of the retirees are:
1. An adjustment in pension
benefits for all retirees that will restore 75 percent of the lost
buying power of their pensions that occurred due to the increased cost
of living since their retirement. An overall adjustment averaging about
1.8 percent per year since retirement would accomplish this. We have
been requesting this adjustment for the past four years and have been
ignored!
2. A flat-rate reduction factor of 2 percent for retirees who have
chosen the surviving spouse option effective July 2004 (same benefit
that was extended to active employees in July 2004 and requested by
CORRE at the same time).
The surplus for the multi-employer pension plan is now approximately
$800 million, about 135% of actuarial requirement. We estimate
the benefits requested would cost about $200 million. Adherence
of the contractors and DOE to this need would continue the historical
practice by all previous DOE Oak Ridge contractors of granting
adjustments to the pensions based on loss of pension earning
power.
We know that you cannot order DOE, or the contractors, to do anything
with respect to the pensions. On the other hand, we know the
moral imperative stated by you in terms of an expectation of what they
should do, in all fairness and equity for retirees, will weigh heavily
on what they decide to do on this issue. We have briefed your
staff thoroughly concerning the details on this issue.
We hope you will agree with us and will act expeditiously to help
restore some equity to the pension program for Oak Ridge retirees, who
rightfully deserve to be treated as fairly as retirees in other states.
Sincerely,
David E.
Reichle, CORRE President
CC: Tennessee Congressional Delegation
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