Growing Older

For airline workers who are growing older, or if you plan on working at Delta for more than a short time, having a union is an absolute necessity. Here’s why:

Pension #1 – IAM union workers have no Social Security offset on their frozen Northwest pension, as PMDL workers do. The December 9, 2008 edition of Red Tales, available at www.redtalesonline.com, explains how a 30 year union employee makes $386.55 more per month in retirement than a 30 year PMDL employee because the IAM worker has no Social Security offset.

Pension #2 – PMNW IAM members are part of the IAM National Pension Plan, a safe, secure defined benefit pension plan. It is 95.6% funded and rated in the top level “Green Zone” by the U.S. Government. It pays benefits for as long as you are alive after retirement. This is not true for a 401k, which could run out if you live too long after retirement. In addition, the IAM Pension is not subject to the volatility of the stock market as a 401k plan is. The IAM Pension currently pays $45.22 per month per years of service.

Retiree Medical – PMNW IAM members who are retired save around $3,000 per year when compared to PMDL retirees for employee only medical insurance. For employee and spouse the saving is nearly $6,000 per year. If you retire at age 62 you would save $18,000 by age 65 when Medicare begins.

OJI Pay – Airline workers’ bodies get beat up over the years. Many PMNW IAM members have over a year of OJI pay accrued by the time their bodies give out (accrued at 12 days per year). This allows them full pay, full benefits and a real safety net when their knees, backs and shoulders wear out. PMDL employees don’t have a comparable benefit accrual. PMNW workers also generally have more sick accruals than PMDL. This comes in handy as you age or become seriously ill.

Growing Old In Service – Our contract allows workers with 25 years of service and age 55 to perform light duty work when they are unable to perform all functions of the job.

Long Term Disability Insurance – PMNW employees get 66% of their pay compared to 50% for PMDL, when on LTD. PMDL employees also have to wait for 3 more months before they can even collect LTD (6 months vs. 3 months). PMNW employees can receive up to 3 years of benefits with possible extensions, while PMDL employees receive 6 months of LTD with possible extensions. If you return from LTD your position will be available for you if you are PMNW. This is not necessarily true if you are PMDL.