Newbie Pension Questions Local 396

[UPS_Newbie]

I have some real newbie questions about our pension plan for Local 396 here in Southern California. When I joined UPS in mid Sept 2007, one of the big reasons they gave me for sticking around is the pension plan. In looking at the Brown Cafe (BC) I see the information mostly covers long time workers or the "Central States" buyout plan. Now that peak season is over and our hours for part-timers like me are going through the floor, I want to know what I can look forward to.

At 30 years old, I have been told that I will be part-time for 5 years or so before I might become full-time via a "Combo Job" or 7-8 years as a driver. Some posts I have read suggest that I will have to work full-time for 30 years to gain the pension. While I might like to be a driver, I don't know if I want to be a 65 year old driver to earn my pension. If anyone can point me in the right direction to find out what the current pension plan is for local 396 I would be grateful.

Assuming I can earn the full-timers pension, what is the payout per month that I can expect? The few posts I found on the subject suggest only a payout of $2750 or so. While this is not chump change, $33,000 /year doesn't buy that much in Los Angeles. Few people I work with outside of management participate in our 401K plan so I don't even know what kind of matching plan we have.

Thanks in Advance for any help you can provide to clear up my confusion. HR in my hub is not very helpful, they simply don't know the answers to my questions about our pension and have suggested I go to the union meeting to get answers.

 

[JonFrum]

UPS_Newbie,

UPS does not match 401(k) contributions for its Teamster employees.

The recently ratified contract does not obligate UPS to create any more Article 22.3 combo jobs. Just to maintain the ones already created.

UPS is keeping part-timer hours to a minimum because their stock has been going nowhere for quite some time now.

You are in the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130127205742/http://www.wctpension.org/

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

I have some real newbie questions about our pension plan for Local 396 here in Southern California. When I joined UPS in mid Sept 2007, one of the big reasons they gave me for sticking around is the pension plan. In looking at the Brown Cafe (BC) I see the information mostly covers long time workers or the "Central States" buyout plan. Now that peak season is over and our hours for part-timers like me are going through the floor, I want to know what I can look forward to.

At 30 years old, I have been told that I will be part-time for 5 years or so before I might become full-time via a "Combo Job" or 7-8 years as a driver. Some posts I have read suggest that I will have to work full-time for 30 years to gain the pension. While I might like to be a driver, I don't know if I want to be a 65 year old driver to earn my pension. If anyone can point me in the right direction to find out what the current pension plan is for local 396 I would be grateful.

Assuming I can earn the full-timers pension, what is the payout per month that I can expect? The few posts I found on the subject suggest only a payout of $2750 or so. While this is not chump change, $33,000 /year doesn't buy that much in Los Angeles. Few people I work with outside of management participate in our 401K plan so I don't even know what kind of matching plan we have.

Thanks in Advance for any help you can provide to clear up my confusion. HR in my hub is not very helpful, they simply don't know the answers to my questions about our pension and have suggested I go to the union meeting to get answers.

Common sense says that working part-time qualifies as roughly half the pension credit as a full-time employee. Surely all pension plans vary.

Here in ENE, for example; as a part-time employee starting Jan 2002 though aug 2006, my 4 1/2 years added up to about 2 1/2 years pension credit. since then I've done 1 1/2 years full-time for 1 1/2 years pension credit, so over 4 years pension credit total for 6 years going on 7. I hope I explained this correctly.

A 30 year pension is possible via part-time work given you work 50-60 years. You're better off going full-time ASAP, or finding another job, if you want a valuable pension when you decide to retire.

As for full-time, your best bet is to get in driving Saturdays. You will get some on-road experience which is very valuable. After a few/several years, you should be able to hook up with driving cover routes or a route. combo jobs (like the previous poster mentioned) will be difficult to come by as there are no new combo jobs required post Aug 2008. There's always a few openings for driving during the year as there's retirees, injuries, terminations, etc.

Hope any of this helps

 

[Fnix]

injuries, terminations, etc.

lol

 

[shrimpfire]

Common sense says that working part-time qualifies as roughly half the pension credit as a full-time employee. Surely all pension plans vary.

Here in ENE, for example; as a part-time employee starting Jan 2002 though aug 2006, my 4 1/2 years added up to about 2 1/2 years pension credit. since then I've done 1 1/2 years full-time for 1 1/2 years pension credit, so over 4 years pension credit total for 6 years going on 7. I hope I explained this correctly.

A 30 year pension is possible via part-time work given you work 50-60 years. You're better off going full-time ASAP, or finding another job, if you want a valuable pension when you decide to retire.

As for full-time, your best bet is to get in driving Saturdays. You will get some on-road experience which is very valuable. After a few/several years, you should be able to hook up with driving cover routes or a route. combo jobs (like the previous poster mentioned) will be difficult to come by as there are no new combo jobs required post Aug 2008. There's always a few openings for driving during the year as there's retirees, injuries, terminations, etc.

Hope any of this helps

gET INTO 401 K as quick As possible AND PUT as much As U Cn into it AND BUY STOCK. ups PROTECTS THEIR STOCK

 

[steamroll]

possibly in 10 years the pension plan could change