PEP, November 2015: Museum workers unite for pensions

Public Employee Press

LOCALS PROTEST PROPOSED RETIREMENT CHANGES
Museum workers unite for pensions

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Activists in DC 37 locals 1559 and 1306 delivered more than 300 letters to American Museum of Natural History President Ellen V. Futter to protest proposed changes to the Cultural Institutions Retirement System that would have employees work longer and postpone retirement.

"Management is being stubborn at the table and draconian in their demands," said Local 1559 President Peter Vreeland. "They went for our throats."

The institutions that partially fund the pension plan are proposing big cutbacks that would:

Add a second tier to CIRS;
Raise the retirement age to 65;
Eliminate the "Golden 85" stipulation, that allows workers whose age and years of service total 85 to retire after age 55 with full pension and health benefits;
Limit the pension death benefit to a spouse only (currently it can be passed on to a surviving child or sibling).

CIRS includes em. and managers at various cultural institutions in and around the city, members of District Council 1707 and their managers, and the Council of Supervisors and Administrators.
Labor has been at the bargaining table for months demanding the city resume fully funding workers' pensions. Union leaders are pressing for additional funding so cultural institutions and daycare center staffs covered by CIRS could hire more employees to offset the growing number of retired workers, who are collecting pensions and living longer.

The proposed cuts to CIRS would hurt nonunion employees too. Almost 100 unrepresented museum managers and curators wrote letters on their own. "DC 37 is at the negotiating table speaking up for all employees, union and nonunion," said Chris Maisano of DC 37's Research and Negotiations Dept. "We are the only ones giving information to workers. If not for us, workers wouldn't know what's going on."

A powerful response

Expecting 80 workers to sign on, DC 37 local leaders are pleased that over 300 responded. "They see that the union is effective in making its point and giving people a voice. Nonunion workers have lost benefits that union members retained," said Vreeland. "Now they are on our side to protect their sick time and health coverage."

"We delivered our letters to the museum president October 1 so she could see how many employees want the pension to remain as is," said Senior Clerk Eric
Williams. He met face-to-face with coworkers, and some 200 signed onto the campaign.

Ellen Futter, who is also a museum board trustee, ignored the union's request to meet, Vreeland said, passing that responsibility on to AMNH Human Resources Vice President Dan Scheiner, lead spokesman for the management committee at negotiations.

"Our members work very hard, they are on their feet and up and down ladders all day, which gets more challenging as one ages," said Vreeland. "It's unfair to have to struggle to keep a pension benefit, which is the main reason we took the job. The pension is a future benefit that offsets our low salaries."

Local 1559 Museum workers earn about $40,000 a year. Museum President Ellen Futter's compensation package is valued at $1.152 million according to a 2013 IRS filing. Her annual salary is over $760,000, with $233,000 in retirement and defered contributions, and a housing and health care package valued at $152,000.

"We heard management's proposed cuts and read DC 37's analysis," said Christine LeBeau, a Sr. Scientific Assistant. "Seeing the numbers enrages us at how much management is trying to chip away from our benefits, especially since our salaries have been stagnant."

When Wall Street crashed in 2008, Vreeland said, loyal AMNH staff made the concession to suspend the 401(k) contribution match. "Since then the market's rebounded, museum visits are higher than ever, yet AMNH still cries broke," he explained. "They are using a worst case scenario to dictate our future."

The museum plans to build a $325 million yet-to-be designed addition named for stock broker Richard Gilder, a longtime donor.

"Their proposal rips away our benefit and circumvents paying into CIRS," Vreeland said. "Workers shouldn't have to bear the brunt by working longer for a diminished pension."