The Health Care Benefits Will be Taken Away for Disabled Carpenters

[RDK]

Can you ask him if this becomes a class action lawsuit can the decision to take away our benefits be frozen and we continue to get them or cobra until the action is resolved.   Taking away our benefits during a pending action would not see fair as once a case is filed it is ongoing and active.

[slm]

Please keep us posted about your consultation with the lawyer so we know if this is the direction we should all be going.

[robert colasanti]

please keep me informed. We need fight this injustice
Bob

[robert colasanti]

i have been a member for 48 years and feel the board are going out of there way to
hurt the very people who shaped the nycdcc. We need use all the various options
available such as class action law suit, ACLU for discrimination against disable workers,
contact the local news agencies, & any other agency who can put pressure on the union
leadership, also let the total membership know how the leadership are hurting there brothers.
I'm located in Florida so it will be a stretch for me to help, however let me know what we can
do to stop this injustice.

[NYC]

I'm located in Florida so it will be a stretch for me to help,

Are not the very venues you cite, not to mention UBC relocated retirees, available there?

[viveto20]

Please let me know what to do, i want help our cause, i am also a Disabled Carpenter and i need my
Health Care Benefit.

[RDK]

Do you have any feedback from your conference call with the Weiss Law firm?

[JPR]

I spoke with them. I explained the situation and told them it was effecting over 800 disabled union retirees and their families. They said it was very complex and they would look in to it and call me back in the next week. I also called another law firm and they are calling me back to make an appointment for phone a consultation.

[RDK]

I was in touch with one too.  The Trustees have the ability to change whatever they like whenever they like.   They are not allowed take away our pensions.  That is the only reason we have them.  Our death benefit is gone too.   They do NOT have to give us medical if they feel like it.   We need to inundate the Labor Department and ERISA.   However, there is supposed to be Solidarity within unions.  Where are our brothers and sisters???  Who is speaking up for us?  We all got letters yesterday explaining their "NEW RULES."  People with 18 credits who have been out for 24 months and were not granted Phase 11 disability, "Sorry brother, you're a goner too."  Do the current workers know about the letters we got this week?  What happens when they get greedier and say, "Sorry boys 25 credits are needed."  What happens then?  It is a sad time for NYCCC !  Look at NJ Transit.... SOLIDARITY.....  

[JPR]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/29/big-spending-unions-got-congress-to-approve-pensio/?page=all

They used our money to send lobbyist to Washington to make this bill pass. This is the bill

H.R.83 - Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015

[JPR]

The Union will probably send out a newsletter endorsing Hillary Clinton but I am voting for Bernie Sanders.  





http://www.pensionrights.org/newsroom/releases/sen-bernie-sanders-and-rep-marcy-kaptur-act-stop-devastating-cuts-retirees-pension   

                    Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Marcy Kaptur Act
                          to Stop Devastating Cuts to Retirees' Pensions

WASHINGTON – The Pension Rights Center strongly praised Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
and Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) for introducing legislation today that would repeal
the pension cutback provisions of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA). The
Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2015 would preserve retirees’ pensions while providing
financial relief to troubled multiemployer pension plans, their contributing employers, and the
federal pension insurance program, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Unless
repealed, the pension cuts authorized by MPRA will be devastating to the financial security of
hundreds of thousands of retirees in certain underfunded multiemployer plans.
“By introducing the Keep Our Pension Promises Act, Senator Sanders and Representative
Kaptur are taking action to right an injustice that threatens the financial wellbeing of hundreds of
thousands of retirees,” said Karen Friedman, executive vice president and policy director for the
Pension Rights Center. “We want to thank Senator Sanders, Congresswoman Kaptur, and the
legislation's co-sponsors for recognizing how unfair the pension cutback provisions of MPRA
are and for championing their repeal.” Initial co-sponsors include Senators Sherrod Brown (DOhio)
and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), and Representatives Brendan Boyle (D-Penn.), Keith
Ellison (D-Minn.), Mike Honda (D-Calif.), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and
Louise Slaughter (D-New York).
Last December, during the waning hours of the 113th Congress, MPRA was rushed through
Congress as part of the must-pass “cromnibus” spending bill. Buried in the legislation were
provisions that allow trustees of severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans to make
unprecedented cuts to retiree benefits, overturning 40 years of pension protections. Members of
Congress and the public were not given time to examine these stealth provisions or to debate
them. Efforts to get those provisions removed from the spending bill were unsuccessful in the
face of an imminent government shutdown.
Since MPRA’s passage, retiree groups around the country have repeatedly called for the
cutback provisions to be repealed. More than 100 retirees whose pensions could be cut
attended today’s event introducing the Keep Our Pension Promises Act.
Frank Bryant, a retiree from North Carolina, spoke at the press conference. “I am 74 years old. I
drove a truck for UPS for 31 years and retired in 2003,” said Bryant. “It was back-breaking work.
By the end of my career, I think I put in over a million hours of driving in snow, sleet, fog,
morning to night, in every condition. What kept me going was knowing that, at the end of my
time, I was going to get a pension that was going to allow me to live comfortably in my
retirement. If these cuts are allowed to go through, a lot of retirees’ lives will be ruined.”

Retirees came to Washington from Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to show their support of the bill. “This is only the beginning,” said
Bryant. “We are going to expand this movement to other unions, and other retirees, and get the retiree cuts stopped.”

[JPR]

These are all the senators that voted for Multi employer Pension Reform Act of 2014. None of these politicians deserves our votes.......figured this is what makes republicans and democrats come together

Senator Mark Begich – Alaska (Democrat)
Senator Lisa Murkowski- Alaska (Republican)
Senator John Boozman- Arkansas (Republican)
Senator Mark Pryor- Arkansas( Democrat)
Senator Jeff Flake- Arizona (Republican)
Senator John McCain- Arizona (Republican)
Senator Barbara Boxer- California (Democrat)
Senator Richard Blumenthal- Connecticut (Democrat)
Senator Christopher Murphy- Connecticut (Democrat)
Senator Michael F. Bennet- Colorado (Democrat)
Senator Mark Udall- Colorado (Democrat)
Senator Thomas R. Carper- Delaware (Democrat)
Senator Christopher Coons- Delaware (Democrat)
Senator Bill Nelson- Florida (Democrat)
Senator Johnny Isakson- Georgia (Republican)
Senator Mazie K. Hirono- Hawaii  (Democrat)
Senator Brian Schatz- Hawaii (Democrat)
Senator Chuck Grassley- Iowa (Republican)
Senator Tom Harkin- Iowa (Democrat)
Senator Dick Durbin- Illinois (Democrat)
Senator Mark Kirk- Illinois (Republican)
Senator Daniel Coats- Indiana (Republican)
Senator Joe Donnelly- Indiana (Democrat)
Senator Pat Roberts- Kansas (Republican)
Senator Mitch McConnell- Kansas ( Republican)
Senator Mary Landrieu- Louisiana (Democrat)
Senator Susan M. Collins- Maine (Republican)
Senator Angus King- Maine (Independent)
Senator Ben Cardin- Maryland (Democrat)
Senator Barbara Mikulski- Maryland (Democrat)
Senator Edward J. Markey- Massachusetts (Democrat)  
Senator Debbie Stabenow- Michigan (Democrat)
Senator Al Franken- Minnesota (Democrat)
Senator Amy Klobuchar- Minnesota ( Democrat)
Senator Roy Blunt- Missouri (Republican)
Senator Thad Cochran- Mississippi (Republican)
Senator Roger F. Wicker- Mississippi (Republican)
Senator John Tester- Montana (Democrat)
Senator John Walsh- Montana (Democrat)
Senator Deb Fischer- Nebraska (Republican)
Senator Mike Johanns- Nebraska (Republican)
Senator Harry Reid- Nevada (Democrat)
Senator Richard Burr- North Carolina (Republican)
Senator Kay Hagan- North Carolina (Democrat)
Senator John Hoeven- North Dakota (Democrat)
Senator Heidi Heitkamp- North Dakota (Democrat)
Senator Kelly Ayotte- New Hampshire (Republican)
Senator Jeanne Shaheen- New Hampshire (Democrat)
Senator Cory Baker- New Jersey (Democrat)
Senator Robert Menendez- New Jersey (Democrat)
Senator Martin Heinrich- New Mexico (Democrat)
Senator Tom Udall- New Mexico (Democrat)
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand- New York (Democrat)
Senator Charles Schumer- New York (Democrat)
Senator Jeff Merkley- Oregon (Democrat)
Senator Ron Wyden- Oregon (Democrat)
Senator Bob Casey- Pennsylvania (Democrat)
Senator Patrick J. Toomey- Pennsylvania (Republican)
Senator Jack Reed- Rhode Island (Democrat)
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse- Rhode Island (Democrat)
Senator Lindsey Graham- South Carolina ( Republican)
Senator Tim Johnson- South Dakota (Democrat)
Senator John Thune- South Dakota (Republican)
Senator Lamar Alexander- Tennessee (Republican)
Senator Bob Corker- Tennessee  (Republican)
Senator John Cornyn- Texas (Republican)
Senator Orrin Hatch- Utah (Republican)
Senator Tim Kaine- Virginia (Democrat)
Senator Mark Warner- Virginia (Democrat)
Senator Patrick Leahy- Vermont (Democrat)
Senator Maria Cantwell- Washington (Democrat)
Senator Patty Murray- Washington (Democrat)
Senator Tammy Baldwin- Wisconsin (Democrat)
Senator Ron Johnson- Wisconsin (Republican)
Senator Jay Rockefeller- West Virginia (Democrat)
Senator John Barrasso- Wyoming (Republican)
Senator Michael Enzi- Wyoming (Republican)

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=2&vote=00352

[RDK]

Under that act the disabled are supposed to be protected.   They were not allowed to target a protected group which is what the disabled are.   The union made changes themselves which they did before this act when they had us contributing to our coverage, when they took away dental and eyes for a period of time.  They can go into the collective bargaining agreements where they have clauses and do whatever they want!  We are all DISABLED.  It's pure discrimination and the only way to fight this is through ERISA and everybody report them to the Labor Department [phone].  Also, fellow "Brothers" need to demonstrate in solidarity.

[robert colasanti]

Hi
wondering if getting in touch with ACLU would help. Also we should get in touch with Glen Mc Gorty

to look into illegal activity. Keep me advised I will try to help in any way possible to protect our

Brothers & Sisters.

[JPR]

A Happy St Patrick's Day to all. I have been talking to a few different law firms and getting some advice and information. I think I called some of the same law firms as you RDK. I am hesitant to post any more information in an open forum because I don't want the union spies getting a heads up on anything. Here is my email address [e-mail] I think it is time we start talking and fighting this together. RDK I would really like to speak with you and compare notes on what the attorneys said.

[NYC]

Do you have any feedback from your conference call with the Weiss Law firm


Like that helps keep things out of the open.

. I am hesitant to post any more information in an open forum because I don't want the union spies getting a heads up on anything. Here is my email address jpr8332@

Too bad you weren't thinking lie this four days ago.

[RDK]

JPR I sent you an email.  let me know if you got it.

Hi my name is Bob. been a member for 48 years. I understand the reason for secrecy
and I agree. Do we have a chance to recover our benefits. My residence is Fl. so it
is difficult to stay in the loop. Let me know good or bad and if I can help.

[Braciole]

Don't know still waiting for lawyer to get back to me, anything we could think of will help. I read about a case like in California that the workers lost. Does not look good but if we stick together it could work.

[Braciole]

Ok, still waiting for lawyer to get back to me, spoke to my congressman he said he would make a few calls.