Text by by John O’Connor (Local 802, Recording Vice President)
PENSION, YES! Local 802 Executive Board member Bud Burridge and his son Kai at a Local 802 jazz campaign rally earlier this spring. Pension is one of the main demands. Photo: Walter Karling
It has been said here before, but it bears repeating that the AFM pension remains perhaps the best benefit that our years of collective bargaining with employers offers. And in spite of the fact that the pension payout multiplier has decreased, the fund is projected to be solvent as far into the future as actuaries will measure.
Many union members understandably bemoan the fact that the multiplier is not what it used to be in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but we often forget that the fat payout rates of that era were the result of the performance of a stock market on steroids that resulted in a great big crash in 2008. Nevertheless, the pension fund continues to operate efficiently and pay pensions to thousands of musicians and will continue to do so for as long as anyone can figure.
I make this observation because the other day at the bargaining table, a lawyer on management’s side made a crack that most people aren’t interested in pensions anymore. I quickly corrected him, saying “Just because management doesn’t like pensions doesn’t mean they’re not a good thing for working people.” It is important for us not to buy into management’s propaganda by berating pensions in general and the AFM pension in particular. A comment was made recently that “pensions have gone the way of the dinosaur.” There are 44 million Americans who are at present eligible or will be eligible for a defined benefit pension, hardly what I would call extinction. Pensions have been and are still a very good idea for working people. Business doesn’t like them because they are costly. But business doesn’t like health care or sick leave or vacations or decent wages or social security either, because they are also costly. Just because pension funds are derided by Wall Street, doesn’t mean they aren’t good for the people.
The AFM pension payout rate is the same now as it was when the fund was first established in 1959. But there is one huge and important difference. The current vesting period is much less than it was 50 years ago and enables a lot more musicians to participate. Our Justice for Jazz Artists campaign continues to be viable in respect to pension benefits because of this fact. When we achieve victory and bring collective bargaining to nightclubs, it will not be long before the first musician is vested in the fund as a result of our struggle….
Read more in Allegro (Volume 113 No. 7 July, 2013): http://www.local802afm.org/2013/07/why-pension-matters/
