They are copied below and also posted on the TRS website.
Can anyone out there explain these letters to our readers?
These are the two of the most interesting paragraphs for me:
During the summer of 2016, the DOE is expected to provide TRS with updated salary information related to the two 4% pay increases. If TRS has not yet received your updated salary information from the DOE when we begin calculating your retirement allowance, we will initially finalize your retirement allowance based on available information, and then revise your retirement allowance to reflect the full pay increases due under your collective bargaining agreement.
If you have additional pensionable earnings such as per session and class coverage, please note that the DOE is expected to send that salary information to TRS after sending the information related to the two 4% pay increases. TRS will then determine whether you are eligible for a retirement allowance revision based on the additional pensionable earnings.
This contract was settled over two years ago. Why is the DOE waiting until the summer of 2016 to send "updated salary information?"
Is this the pension calculations the way the UFT told us they would originally be done as if we had gotten the 4% + 4% raises back in 2009-2011 so our pensions will be calculated as if we received the increases all along?
OR
Is something else going on here?
Is this the pension calculations the way the UFT told us they would originally be done as if we had gotten the 4% + 4% raises back in 2009-2011 so our pensions will be calculated as if we received the increases all along?
OR
Is something else going on here?
Please someone help me out so we can understand this better.
DOE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT LETTER (For Retiring UFT Members Only)
T01-DOE INSTRUCTIONS (7/16) INSTRUCTIONS
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY PAGE 1
Members who are represented by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) must sign the attached acknowledgement letter from the Department of Education (DOE) and file it with their retirement application. Members who are not represented by the UFT should disregard this information and should not file the attached letter. The Department of Education (DOE) has directed TRS to provide UFT members the attached letter. The letter explains how TRS will calculate your retirement allowance to reflect provisions of the 2014 UFT collective bargaining agreement.
How to Complete Your Acknowledgement Letter Please carefully read the acknowledgement letter (code T01-DOE) and sign and date it in the spaces provided. In the space labeled “Pension No. /Last Four Digits of Social,” write your TRS Membership Number instead. Then, include the signed letter with the retirement application that you file with TRS.
How TRS Will Calculate Your Retirement Allowance TRS will base your retirement calculation on the best Final Average Salary (FAS) period that results after factoring in the two 4% pay increases from 2009 and 2010 that are due you (but not fully paid to you by the DOE), as well as the two 1% pay increases that the DOE has already paid to you under your collective bargaining agreement.
During the summer of 2016, the DOE is expected to provide TRS with updated salary information related to the two 4% pay increases. If TRS has not yet received your updated salary information from the DOE when we begin calculating your retirement allowance, we will initially finalize your retirement allowance based on available information, and then revise your retirement allowance to reflect the full pay increases due under your collective bargaining agreement.
If you have additional pensionable earnings such as per session and class coverage, please note that the DOE is expected to send that salary information to TRS after sending the information related to the two 4% pay increases. TRS will then determine whether you are eligible for a retirement allowance revision based on the additional pensionable earnings.
Additional Information TRS will send you a Benefits Letter about a week before you receive your first retirement allowance payment. The Benefits Letter will detail your retirement allowance calculation, including the Final Average Salary used. If you have questions after receiving your Benefits Letter, you may call TRS at 1 (888) 8-NYC-TRS, or the UFT Retiree Pension Department at (212) 598-9536.
Please note that TRS is administering your retirement allowance revision in accordance with the agreements between the UFT and the DOE, but keep in mind that TRS and our Member Services Representatives are not experts about the specific terms of the agreements. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 T01-DOE INSTRUCTIONS (7/16) PAGE 2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 This page intentionally left blank. Carmen Farina Chancellor
Dear Applicant for Retirement,
In the Spring of 2014, the United Federation of Teachers (“UFT”) and the Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New York (known as the “Department of Education” or “DOE”) negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement (the “Agreement”) covering November 1, 2009 through October 31, 2018.
As part of Section 3(B) of the Agreement, the UFT and DOE agreed that two 4% increases from 2009 and 2010 that were part of the pattern for the 2009-2011 round of bargaining would be phased in to employees’ paychecks as 2% on May 1, 2015, another 2% on May 1, 2016, another 2% on May 1, 2017 and, finally, another 2% on May 1, 2018.
At the same time, Section 3(E) of the Agreement provides for a series of lump sum payments which are paid on October 1, 2015, October 1, 2017, October 1, 2018, October 1, 2019 and October 1, 2020 (or for those on approved leave, upon return). Lump sum payments are also made on those dates to those individuals who retired after June 30, 2014. The wage rate increases and lump sum payments occur at different points in time, but they both represent, in different forms, the same increases from the 2009-2011 round of bargaining.
To make sure your pension does not include less or more than it would if you received a 4% increase on November 1, 2009 and a 4% increase on November 1, 2010, the UFT and DOE agreed that employee pensions would be calculated using the phased in wage rate increases.
In order to ensure that all UFT-represented employees are equally made whole and receive neither less nor more than the full value of the 2009-2011 pattern increases in their pensions, this letter has been added to your application for retirement to ensure that you understand that your pension will be calculated by applying a 4% increase in 2009 and a 4% increase in 2010 when calculating your final average salary.
Because your pension will be calculated in this way, you understand that the lump sum payments will not be separately pensionable.
You also agree that you will not challenge the exclusion of your lump sum payments from your final average salary calculation since you have been credited for this amount in your final average salary.
Such challenge will result in your becoming legally obligated to return all the lump sum payments you received to the DOE. If you bring such a challenge and do not return the lump sum payments, the DOE will have a right to take legal action against you to secure the return of the payments and, if successful, will have a right to recover legal fees associated with that legal action.
Notwithstanding this acknowledgement, it is understood that you do reserve your right to otherwise challenge the correctness of your pension calculation without giving up the lump sum payments, including, but not limited to, challenging any potential incorrect application of the increases in Section 3(B) of the collective bargaining agreement to 2009 and 2010.
Date: _____________________ ____________________________ __ ____
UFT-Represented Employee/Retiree
Lawrence E. Becker Human Resources
New York City Department of Education
_____________________________
Pension No. / Last four digits of Social
25 comments:
I posted a question about this new letter from TRS/DOE on an old pension recalculation posting in June because that info about this new form was posted on the TRS website on 7/15. New retirees have to sign the DOE Acknowledgement Form when they hand in their retirement papers to TRS.
My main concern is with the following part of the letter. Even if we worked in 2015 & 2016 we don't get the raises (1% in 2015 and 1 1/2 in 2016) in the calculation of our FAS - only the 2% retro from 2009 to 2011. Anonymous said...
The DOE states in the letter that a person's pension will be calculated with the two 4% retro raises from 2009 to 2011 included and also the two 1% raises that were already given. It also states that TRS will be mailing this letter to people that retired after 7/1/14. The letter has to be signed and sent back to TRS. The letter also states that the retiree acknowledges that the lump sum retro money won't be pensionable when we receive the lump sum on the dates originally scheduled. The part that really concerns me is that the DOE didn't mention the other increases (raises) such as the 1% in 2015 and the 1 1/2% increase in 2016.
Has anyone that recently retired know if their FAS was based on salaries from the new contract?
Take the letter to an accountant/lawyer before signing.
I just handed in my retirement papers on June 30th and the DOE personnel was still at TRS to take the health insurance forms. That was so much better than going to Court Street. My effective retirement date had to be after 7/10 because that was when I became 62.
What I consider very interesting is that TRS says if they don't have the new salary info when they start calculating my pension, they will use info that they already have -- why doesn't TRS just say to new retirees that the pensions are still being calculated on the old salary schedules. Why would the DOE send my salary info to TRS based on the two 4% increases from 09 to 11 included if the DOE doesn't know that I retired yet. Another thing, do I lose the 1% salary increase from 2015 and 1 1/2% from 2016? It appears that the City/TRS/DOE are only including the two 4% retro raises from 2009 to 2011 and the two 1% raises that we already received. How can Mulgrew let that happen? The City wins again.
Another thing that TRS states in the letter is that TRS is administering your retirement allowance revision in accordance with the agreements between the UFT and the DOE, but keep in mind that TRS and our Member Services Representatives are not experts about the specific terms of the agreements.
TRS is finally saying the truth. They are not experts about the terms of the contract so it will take forever for them to get this right. They should just start calculating the pensions of new retirees with the salaries from the new contract and in the long run it will save the City money doing it that way.
Has anyone that recently retired, handed in their retirement papers before this new form was posted on the TRS website receive this form/letter in the mail from TRS?
This is what happens when a wage increase is negotiated long after one retires. "As The World Turns"
Why wasn't this hammered out months ago by the negotiators...the UFT and the DoE?
Moreover, why hasn't the UFT conducted seminars, on this topic, soon after the agreement was signed?
JOEL L. FRANK
PENSION COLUMNIST
THE CHIEF-CIVIL SERVICE LEADER
The UFT & the City came up with this plan. Mulgrew sent an email bragging about it to retirees in June, but Mulgrew should be upfront on how this effects people that retired 2015, retiring in 2016 or in 2017. The only people that don't lose in some way is the ones that retire in 2018 or later. The way things are set up, pensions will be higher sooner than later, but people are losing out on part of the raises that they receive if the calculations stop as of 2014. The FAS will include 4% for 2009, 4% for 2010. 1% for 2013 and 1% for 2014. What happens to the 1% raise for 2015, 1 1/2% for 2016 and so forth? Those raises came from the new contract and if you received these raises before you retired why shouldn't they be included in your FAS.
Another point that should be brought up is that anyone who retires now and has per session or payments for preps, etc. that the money for that won't be included in a person's FAS right now. The updated salary from the DOE is only for the two retro 4% increases and updated salaries to include per session, etc. will happen later on and a person's pension will be recalculated again.
How can the UFT agree to this BS? Either way the city saves money - the city wins again.
We need your assistance Joel to sort this out.
Vile that De Blasio has the temerity to call himself a progressive.
Well, as we are all learning but definitely not getting used to, anything goes in neo-liberal land.
In the newsletter that TRS posted it said that these revisions will start in late 2016 and through 2017. In their June meeting they said that letters will be mailed to over 4000 retirees that retired after 7/1/14 and through 6/2/16 at the end of June. What happens to people that retired later than 6/2/16? When will they mail them letters. New retirees have to submit the form with their retirement papers. How long will it take for TRS to revise the pensions of over 4000 members? By the time they get to people that retired during the summer of 2016 it will be 2018. Why can't they just calculate the FAS of new retirees with the new salaries from the contract. In the long run it will save time and money for the City of NY, except the longer it takes to do the revisions the moeny the city will save because more retirees will pass away and the families won't get the money.
Yeah, but Mulgrew is supposed to be protecting our interests, not the city's. It just another example of how utterly incompetent Mulgrew and the UFT really are. The Chief should do an expose on; 1. The crappy contract that wasn't negotiated on. ; 2. The rampant age discrimination that was put into that contract. ; 3. The whole ATR scheme to rid the system of veteran teachers.
The UFT website doesn't have any of this info even though Mulgrew sent an email to retirees about the revision back in June.
Why tell the members anything? We have to get Hillary elected.
The City of NY will win another way when TRS gets the salaries under the new contract from the DOE and TRS has to adjust salaries for the FAS because of the 10% rule. Even though a person's FAS is usually calculated with the most current 3 years which would most likely have the highest salary - TRS uses 5 years worth of salaries to see if any year's salary is 10% higher than the other. With the new raises - the 10% rule will kick in and adjustments will be made -- the City wins again.
I'm asking a few questions on this site hoping a recent retiree can answer my questions. Since I don't trust the UFT for honest answers I won't even bother asking them.
I recently submitted my retirement papers to TRS and I just received an email from Wageworks that they were told by the DOE that I'm not employed by them anymore so they were letting me know that I have 3 months to use the funds on the Wageworks card. If the DOE already knows that I submitted my retirement papers how long does it take for TRS to process my application? Doesn't the DOE find out I handed in retirement papers from TRS?
How long does it take for the TRS website to show a retirement date?
Why doesn't the TRS website show my QPP beneficiary? It used to show it now it says that no info is available. The TDA beneficiary's name still appears.
I can't access TDA info any more. I was able to about 2 or 3 days ago. Does this happen when someone submits their retirement papers?
I didn't go for a final consultation at the UFT because I was hearing from other people that they couldn't really get answers to their questions about their FAS and the new contract. I did end up going to a TRS workshop about getting ready to retire and I came out of their upset because of the 10% rule which I will get hit with once they update our salaries to reflect the two 4% retro increases. TRS said that they use 5 years of salary info to calculate a person's FAS - not just the most recent 3 consecutive years.
Will my salary from 2016 be used to calculate my FAS? I reached my 22 years longevity in February and that was a nice increase in salary. especially in May.
What salary would the DOE report to TRS as my final salary before retirement? Would they use the salary I was making in December 2015?
Thank you for any info.
It was complicated enough to prepare retirement before this craziness was added to the mix. Final consults with 80 year olds or 26 year olds
who don't know what they are doing. Will the 10% rule apply to calculation because of the retro money? The retro is to be not to be treated as a single year salary for social security, so why should it be treated as such by TRS?
These are all questions that should be addressed by Steve Gappelberg, if he is still head of pension, and a qualified individual not connected to the UFT.
What a mess!
Since TRS admits that they are administering your retirement allowance revision in accordance with the agreements between the UFT and the DOE, but they also say to keep in mind that TRS and their Member Services Representatives are not experts about the specific terms of the agreements, how can anyone trust that they are doing the revisions correctly? Who is going to oversee the revisions?
By the time that TRS starts doing the revisions - I guess in the order that people retired, it will be time for the 12 1/2% lump sum retro payment in October of 2017. TRS said it in their newsletter and Mulgrew said it in the email that the revisions will start in late 2016 and throughout 2017.
Will TRS ever calculate the FAS for a retiring person on the salaries of the new contract? Will they ever get it straight or will pension revisions become a fact of life?
The latter.
The UFT has a Tier IV Pension Clinic on Thursday August 18th at 10-1PM at 52 Bway. As many people as possible should attend and asked for clarification of the retro money and calculating pension amounts. Maybe at this clinic they can tell us where to find the SECTION 3(B) agreement between the DOE and UFT . It isn't on the UFT website under 2014 contract.
It would be great if someone can get some answers from the UFT, but they don't have them. I was scheduled to go to a final consultation at the UFT, but I ended up canceling it. I called and spoke to a pension consultant and my question to him was that the UFT website says that the two 4% retro raises would be included when they calculate a person's FAS and it was posted on the UFT website back in 2014. That is how they sold this lousy contract. He told me that if I retired in 2018 the retro raises would be included in my FAS, but if I retire in 2016 the two 4% retro raises wouldn't be calculated in my FAS because I didn't get them yet.
The UFT still hasn't posted info on their website explaining what is going to happen with the revisions of pensions for people who retired after 7/1/14. The UFT should have fought for all retirees and it should have been part of the contract that anyone who retires during the life of the contract who automatically receive a pension based on the two 4% retro raises as if we received them back in 2009 to 2011 and all of the retro money that was due to the person. The City has a surplus which they could use for that purpose.
Some information for new retirees (people that just handed in retirement papers before 7/15/16)
On 7/15/16 TRS posted the TRS/DOE Acknowledgement Form on their website. New retirees need to fill out this form. I handed in my retirement paperwork on 6/30/16 so I wasn't aware of this form. I just called TRS and asked about the form. They said that I can go into their office to fill it out or they will mail it to me. I requested that they mail me a copy.
From what I understand TRS isn't automatically mailing this form to anyone who is just retiring, so people should just call TRS to get it. The form can also be printed from TRS website and completed and mailed.
It's always been the case that we could not trust the DOE but now it's become a sad reality that we can no longer trust the UFT as well. We pay good money every month to these clowns to be our watchdog and protect our interests and yet here we are scratching our heads trying to figure out this incoherent mess that they put us in.
When it comes time to retire, teachers are forced to hire an accountant and lawyer to make sure they are not getting ripped off. Thank you Meathead Mike.
Thank you anonymous. You said the truth. We can't trust the UFT. That was a great name for Mulgrew - Meathead. Since TRS admits they're not experts how are pensions supposed to be calculated correctly. These revisions will go on for years -- way passed the expiration of this half ass contract and the next mayor will claim the city is broke. That's why they set up our retro lump sum payments into 2020. The City is counting on retirees expiring also.
At our June Chapter Leader meeting/luncheon, a Queens UFT pension consultation person said that the original agreement to revise pensions as salaries are adjusted for retro became too cumbersome so from now on pensions will be calculated to include the retro salary when the member retires.
I haven't seen anything in writing but if this is true then it is better than the original agreement, right? Or am I missing something?
I'm going to schedule my yearly pension consultation as soon as the school year begins. I have 1 year, 8 months and 2 days to go.. but who's counting?
I hope what the Queens UFT pension consultant said is right, because according to the TRS letter with the DOE Acknowledgement Form that people that retired from 7/1/14 to the present time have to complete and mail back to TRS or submit with their retirement papers, TRS said that if they don't have updated salary information when they start calculating a person's pension, they will make revisions to the pension amount once they have the updated salary info.
The DOE is supposed to give TRS updated salary info this summer -- hopefully not on 8/31/2016. The DOE has had ample time to update the salary info. The contract went into effect over 2 years ago. I think this contract would have been voted down if the UFT would have told the truth to its members. There shouldn't be any reason why a new retiree's pension has to be calculated on the old salaries. It takes TRS 5 to 6 months to calculate a person's pension so by then TRS should have the updated salary info for people that retired this summer.
I handed in my papers on June 30th with a retirement date of 7/16 because I had to wait until July 10th to become 62. I hope by the time they calculate my pension, it will be with the updated salary info but with the way TRS/DOE/UFT?City of New York, I wouldn't count on it. I have a feeling that it will be revised by thee next lump sum payment - October 2017. Mulgrew said in an email he sent to 7/1/14 to 6/2/16 retirees that the pension revisions will start in late 2016 through 2017.
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