GLARING PENSION INEQUITY

ISSUE:
Our Pension and Retirement Plans secretly favor certain participants more than others.

WHY IS THIS AN ISSUE?

A BRIEF HISTORY: In 2004 the National Board welcomed our Staff into our SAG Pension Plan. At that time all members of our SAG Pension Plan (including our Staff) accrued benefits at 3.5%. After the 2008 economic meltdown, SAG Pension Trustees had to take drastic action: “The pension accrual rate will be reduced from its current 3.5% to 2.0% of Covered Earnings.” *

This action was implemented January 1, 2010. MembershipFirst discovered, by hiring an outside pension attorney, that no reduction was ever implemented for our Staff. To this date we--the Members--are still accruing at 2% under SAG contracts and approximately

1% under AFTRA - while our Staff has continued to accrue at 3.5%. Unbeknownst to Member Participants, SAG Pension Trustees created this special group within The SAG Pension Plan.

• It is wrong for SAG Pension Trustees to unilaterally and secretly change the structure of the pension plan. By default, they’ve created a climate where it seems the membership is pitted against the staff. Nothing could be further from the truth.

• MembershipFirst doesn’t want to take benefits away from the staff, rather we want to make sure that the members who pay into the plan throughout their entire careers receive the same benefits which they have earned.

• When the benefits of the members who pay into the plan are drastically lower than the staff whose salary the members are paying, it undermines the integrity of the plan and is unacceptable.

• You, as a Member Participant, have to wait 10 years longer to retire with full benefits and receive thousands of dollars less than our Staff.

• This arrangement was intentionally concealed, disrespecting the rights and fiduciary responsibility to union members.

• The members of our union must work longer and must earn more, to receive a lesser benefit than our employees whose salaries are paid with our dues.

Example:
SAG member: Working from age 35 to 55. Earning $50,000 per year. Retiring at age 55. Gets $14,000 per year.(30% reduction in benefits from age 65 to 55.)

AFTRA member: Working from age 35 to 55. Earning $50,000 per year. Retiring at age 55. Gets $4,000 per year. (60% reduction in benefits from age 65 to 55.)

Staff member: Working from age 35 to 55. Earning $50,000 per year. Retiring at age 55. Gets $35,000 per year. (NO reduction in benefits at age 55.)

The preceding is based on the Staff’s “Rule of 75” benefit vs. the SAG member participant accrual rate of 2% of earnings, and the AFTRA member participant accrual rate of approx. 1% of earnings.

THE RULE OF 75: This is an additional benefit for Staff who have a combination of Age-and-Service that adds up to 75. (20 years of service at 55 years of age would be 75.) When a Staff person hits the Rule of 75 a whole new deal appears: Here, the Staff person receives a pension benefit equal to their last 5 years of earnings averaged, with a maximum annual benefit of $225,000. The SAG Members’ annual maximum is $96,000 at age 65 with 35 vested years.

This egregious pension disparity will continue until we have new national leadership.

WHAT IS OUR SOLUTION?
Our current Trustees have known about this pension disaster for over a decade and have allowed this provision to remain in effect. MembershipFirst will take every action to correct this situation. We don’t fault our staff; we want all Plan Participants to accrue at the same equitable rates under the same rules.

ATTENTION DANCERS AND STUNT PERFORMERS: A career in dance and stunts demands a high level of physicality and risk, culminating in premature wear and tear to the body. Our Pension and Retirement Plans fail to acknowledge the unique demands that are placed upon dancers and stunt performers. Having longevity in a dance or stunt career is extremely rare and uniquely difficult. Therefore, we believe our Trustees must allow Dancers and Stunt Performers to take their full retirement early without reduction.

(*Reference: Take-2, Volume XVII, Number 2, Summer 2009.)