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Printers’ Pension Plan Available for All Industries
A pension plan on par with retirement benefits for government workers and employees at large corporations is available, through contract negotiation, to CWA members in small and mid-sized units.
Offered through the Printing Sector, the CWA/International Typographical Union Negotiated Pension Plan, or NPP, is a “defined benefit” plan that provides a monthly sum for life at retirement.
CWA’s public sector members and workers at AT&T and regional Bell companies, among others, have defined benefit plans, but most workers at smaller companies don’t, said Bill Boarman, the NPP chairman and CWA vice president for the Printing Sector.
“Increasingly, new units coming into the plan are a diverse group that embraces telecommunications, health care and other fields,” Boarman said. “They have seen what the NPP has done for print industry workers and they want to participate.”
CWA bargaining units that have recently joined the plan include a 200-member group employed collectively by BMI Telecommuni-cations, Network Technology Solutions, Islip Special Assembly Corp. and Prism Techno-logies Group, all in New York and New Jersey. In Kirkland, Wash., Telecom Custom Services enrolled 40 workers in NPP and 82 workers for the City of Sebastian, Fla., CWA Local 3180, are members.
The NPP was created 34 years ago. It has paid more than $1 billion in benefits and has an equal amount in assets today. More than 500 employers contribute to the plan on behalf of workers, under terms of collective bargaining agreements.
“Unionized workers at small to mid-sized companies embrace the NPP because they either had no plan at all or only a defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k),” Boarman said.
Another participant in the plan is ARC/Mercer in Trenton, N.J., a residential care facility for the developmentally disabled that employs 100 members of CWA Local 1040. Seeking the stability of a defined pension plan, workers negotiated for and won NPP benefits.
“They wanted the NPP because it is an excellent plan and a union-sponsored plan that will look out for the interests of the members,” Local 1040 Executive Vice President Don Klein said. “You only have to look at the uproar at IBM over pension issues to understand our concerns with company pension programs.”
IBM and other companies have changed their formulas over the years for calculating pension benefits, decreasing the amount participants receive. Furthermore, companies that run their own pension systems often stop making contributions when investments are doing well.
“That can’t happen with NPP,” Boarman said. “Because the rates for NPP contributions are set by collective bargaining agreements, the NPP keeps improving benefits for participants.” The plan is explained in detail online at www.cwaitu.com. More information is also available by calling the plan office toll free at (877) 429-2488 or by e-mailing cwaitu@aol.com.
Offered through the Printing Sector, the CWA/International Typographical Union Negotiated Pension Plan, or NPP, is a “defined benefit” plan that provides a monthly sum for life at retirement.
CWA’s public sector members and workers at AT&T and regional Bell companies, among others, have defined benefit plans, but most workers at smaller companies don’t, said Bill Boarman, the NPP chairman and CWA vice president for the Printing Sector.
“Increasingly, new units coming into the plan are a diverse group that embraces telecommunications, health care and other fields,” Boarman said. “They have seen what the NPP has done for print industry workers and they want to participate.”
CWA bargaining units that have recently joined the plan include a 200-member group employed collectively by BMI Telecommuni-cations, Network Technology Solutions, Islip Special Assembly Corp. and Prism Techno-logies Group, all in New York and New Jersey. In Kirkland, Wash., Telecom Custom Services enrolled 40 workers in NPP and 82 workers for the City of Sebastian, Fla., CWA Local 3180, are members.
The NPP was created 34 years ago. It has paid more than $1 billion in benefits and has an equal amount in assets today. More than 500 employers contribute to the plan on behalf of workers, under terms of collective bargaining agreements.
“Unionized workers at small to mid-sized companies embrace the NPP because they either had no plan at all or only a defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k),” Boarman said.
Another participant in the plan is ARC/Mercer in Trenton, N.J., a residential care facility for the developmentally disabled that employs 100 members of CWA Local 1040. Seeking the stability of a defined pension plan, workers negotiated for and won NPP benefits.
“They wanted the NPP because it is an excellent plan and a union-sponsored plan that will look out for the interests of the members,” Local 1040 Executive Vice President Don Klein said. “You only have to look at the uproar at IBM over pension issues to understand our concerns with company pension programs.”
IBM and other companies have changed their formulas over the years for calculating pension benefits, decreasing the amount participants receive. Furthermore, companies that run their own pension systems often stop making contributions when investments are doing well.
“That can’t happen with NPP,” Boarman said. “Because the rates for NPP contributions are set by collective bargaining agreements, the NPP keeps improving benefits for participants.” The plan is explained in detail online at www.cwaitu.com. More information is also available by calling the plan office toll free at (877) 429-2488 or by e-mailing cwaitu@aol.com.