By GREGORY N. HEIRES

When union members ratified the 2000-2002 economic agreement, they also triggered implementation of five major pension gains that DC 37 and other municipal unions won in legislation adopted last year.

The improvements — all retroactive to Oct. 1, 2000 — cover members of the New York City Employees Retirement System, the Board of Education Employees Retirement System and the Teachers Retirement System.

One of the gains eliminates the 3 percent basic contribution for members of the Tier 3 and 4 plans who have 10 years of membership or credited service. This covers the majority of DC 37 members. Another provides additional service credit for members of the Tier 1 and 2 plans.

Tucciarelli: “Significant improvements”
The others include a tier equity provision and — in Tiers 2, 3 and 4 — improved provisions on death benefits and credit for previous public service.

“The pension reforms we achieved last year are tremendous gains that correct many of the inequities that existed among different plans,” said Local 1320 President James Tucciarelli, who heads the DC 37 Pension Committee. “These changes are going to make significant improvements in the living standards of thousands of DC 37 members during their working lives and after retirement.”

The pension improvements also included an automatic and annual cost-of-living adjustment for pension payments, which did not depend on the ratification of the contract. The COLA started with a catch-up increase in September 2000 for pre-1997 retirees, and it will begin in September 2001 for others.

The pension improvements triggered by the ratification of the 2000-2002 economic agreement are listed below:

• Elimination of 3% contributions
  Retroactive to Oct. 1, 2000, members of the Tier 3 and Tier 4 retirement plans with 10 years of membership or credited service are no longer required to make their basic 3 percent contribution to their pensions.
  
  This change will boost the take-home pay of the tens of thousands of affected DC 37 members by 3 percent.
  The new benefit will kick in for members who now have less than 10 years on the job once they reach their 10th anniversary in their retirement system.
  
  To be eligible, an employee must have been a retirement system member for 10 or more years or have 10 or more years of credited service.
  
  
• Additional service credit
  Members of the Tier 1 and Tier 2 retirement plans are eligible for up to two years of extra pension credit. These workers will receive one month’s additional service credit for each year of work, up to a maximum of 24 months.
  
  Besides regular work, credited service may cover a leave of absence with pay and approved leaves of absences without pay that do not exceed 12 weeks.
  
  To be eligible, workers must have joined the retirement system before July 27, 1976, and have worked from June 1, 2000 through Oct. 1, 2000.
  
  
• Tier equity
  This law addresses inequities in the retirement age required by different plans. Essentially, the law permits Tier 3 and Tier 4 members to retire before their normal retirement age, if they meet minimum service requirements.
  
  Under this law, members may retire and elect to receive their payments between the ages of 55 and 62. Members who take this early retirement option will have their pension reduced by _ of 1 percent for each of the 24 months before they turn 62, plus _ of 1 percent for each month before turning 60.
  
  The following listing shows the age of retirement with the corresponding benefit reduction: 61 years(6 percent); 60 years (12 percent); 59 years (15 percent); 58 years (18 percent); 57 years (21 percent); 56 years (24 percent); and 55 years (27 percent).
  
  
• Death benefit
  The retirement system offers two different death benefits. Under the new law, which covers Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4, beneficiaries of members who select Plan 1 and die while they are still working will collect the benefit of Plan 1 or Plan 2, whichever is larger.
  
  
• Previous public service credit
  This law eliminates a “continuous service” requirement for buying back pension credit. It thus allows Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 members to purchase retirement service credit for public service with a different employer before they enrolled in their current plan.
  
  This retirement credit covers previous public service anywhere in New York State. The worker must have had a job covered by a public employee retirement system in the state, and must have been a member of that system.
  
  The law also reduces from five years to two years the amount of service credit a member must have to purchase previous service credit.
  
  
• Questions?
  Union members who have questions about these pension improvements can call the DC 37 Pension Unit at (212) 815-1200 or their retirement system. NYCERS’s number is (347) 643-3000 and 1-877-6NYCERS. NYCERS’s Web site is at http://www.nycers.org. TRS’s number is (212) 442-5440. BERS’s number is (718) 935-2317.