HOMEPAGE
ASK ABOUT YOUR PVP AND COMPARE Version A
** Please circulate this to all Paycode 2 and 6 people who will be voting. - but NOT in large e-mail lists.
Note that this applies to most supervisors and managers also.
The purpose of this letter is to * outline * how and why any non- represented employee should check to see if the PVP Pension Plan is better or worse than the old plan. What you need are facts and data, not company opinions and generalizations that may or may not apply to you. Having said that, I'll make a few general comments about the PVP plan. I'll provide links so you can read the company position and misleading statements. And how you can ask some questions. I've been asked by many to provide a 'form ' letter, and in the past I've done that., But it is too easy to miss a point that may be important to you, so I'll provide some suggested questions, and where to look for background.
If you go to http://www.halcyon.com/dshuper/BAPROPOSAL.html
you can read my shareholder proposal on the issue,plus links to
a lot of other info. This year , my proposal got 8.7 % of the
vote or about 52 Million shares. I belive mostly from BA employees
in the VIP Plan. CALPERS did vote 4 Million shares for my proposal.
Please read the initial and final BOD statements against me, as
well as the arguments by the Boeing law firm of Perkins-Coie -
[ which they lost ] Especially the following , which provides
a key for YOUR questions.
[*** added for emphasis ]
The INITIAL statement that they had to retract is . . . The end result **IS **that, for most employees who were near retirement age or who had long service when the PVP took effect, there is little difference in projected retirement benefits. In fact, due to the PVP's unusual features and the extra costs associated with this change, many employees' projected PVP benefits are slightly higher than the projected benefits from their former plans. Contrary to the Proponent's Supporting Statement, overall, the PVP provides a level of benefits that is very close to, and in some cases better than, the benefits provided by the prior plans. "
AND
"The Proponent's Supporting Statement alleges that the Company
has broken "previous pension promises" made to employees.
As just discussed, that is ** not true as a factual matter, ***
because the PVP's overall level of benefits is nearly equivalent
to the prior plans' benefit levels. ** The allegation also is
not true as a legal matter.' ""
The FINAL published statement reads " - - - The Company
** believes, based upon its analysis, *** that for most employees
who were near retirement age or who had long service when the
PVP took effect, there is little difference in projected retirement
benefits. In fact, due to the PVP's unusual features and the
extra costs associated with this change, the Company ** further
believes (based again on its analysis) *** that many employees'
projected PVP benefits are slightly higher than the projected
benefits from their former plans. ****** Of course different employees
will be impacted differently. Contrary to the Proponent's Supporting
Statement, overall, the PVP provides a level of benefits that
is [very] close to, and in some cases better than, the benefits
provided by the prior plans.
The Proponent's Supporting Statement alleges that the Company has broken "previous pension promises" made to employees. As just discussed, the Company ** does not believe that any promise was broken. **
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Now contrast the above wording to the documented statement Boeing
made to the SEC, and which was published in 1998.
. . . . See, for example, Exhibit [ B at 2] . It informed
them that *** "the rate at which you earn future benefits
may be more- or less-than the rate at which you would have earned
benefits had you continued under The Boeing Company Employee Retirement
Plan." *****
The exhibit mentioned was a Dec 1998 " Total compensation
Update " for Heritage Boeing, and a June 1999 version for
North American Boeing...
===
OK- THERE IS THE BASIC QUESTION - WILL YOU RECEIVE MORE
OR LESS - UNDER WHICH PLAN ?
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1) Note that the BOD claims an analysis was made. If so, as a PVP Plan Participant, is should be available to you , but only if you ask. And only if you ask the "Plan Administrator " in writing, as specified in your documents. If you ask for the analysis, also ask for the legal plan documents, and other documents I'll mention later.. That gives them 30 days tops to answer.
2) You can write the Plan administrator at the address listed [certified mail- return receipt requested ] , or you can e-mail the Chairman of the 'Employee benefits Committee ' [ Plan Administrator ] Jim Dagnon. But be sure to note up front you are writing him in his role as "Plan Administrator.
3) Ask for some specific details and projections so you can compare the old and new plans. Ask for monthly calculations going back at least 5 years, with comparisons by ALL formulas used.
4) Ask for explanations and supporting memos or administrative procedures.
5) A very important number is the credited service figure used on the date of conversion, and the VESTED amount credited to you. you want to know exactly how that was calculated.
6) Note that at this time you are not making a claim but are requesting comparisons, the analysis mentioned by the BOD, and pertinent or appropriate supporting documents, so that you can understand the effects of a change in the on YOU
7) Take a look at http://www.halcyon.com/dshuper/PENSIONNOTES.html
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A very generalized statement follows :
1) Many people will find that they apparently do better under the PVP plan when they retire, until they figure the medical takeaways.
2) Those who do the worst [ get hosed ] will generally be the higher salaried people.
The time to do all this is NOW
Don Shuper