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Based in Washington, D.C., the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) is the only nationwide organization solely dedicated to representing the interests of retirees and future retirees. Formed in 2002, the NRLN’s endeavors to secure federal legislation to protect retirees’ employer-sponsored pensions and benefits in addition to keeping Social Security and Medicare strong. The NRLN is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots coalition representing more than 2 million retirees who came to the NRLN from 23 retiree associations and as individual members who have retired from 168 different U.S. corporations and public entities. NRLN members live in all 50 states and in all 435 Congressional Districts. Over 66% of the Congressional districts have built a formal leadership structure.
The mission of the National Retiree Legislative Network is to develop, identify and rally support for federal legislation that guarantees fair and equitable treatment of retirees and future retirees. We work to protect earned employer-sponsored pensions and benefit plans and Medicare and Social Security that Americans worked many years to earn and expected to be available throughout their retirement. It is important that we protect the real income and economic security of retirees. We will oppose legislation and regulations that will do harm to the quality of retirement life.
As a non-partisan coalition of retiree associations and individual from across America we utilize the strength of our Board of Directors, Washington, DC staff, Regional Vice Presidents, Retiree Associations, State Chapters, and individuals in our Grassroots Network in all 50 states to represent and lobby for the interests of the millions of men and women who retired from the private and public sectors. The NRLN collaborates with and serves on various levels with national advocate organizations headquartered in Washington D.C. and elsewhere.
We focus on protection and enhancement of income security and health care reduction issues only for Retirees. The NRLN proactively lobbies a Legislative Agenda that is built from the bottom up by members; we pride ourselves on preparation, diligence and professional representation.
The NRLN is a 501C (4) non-profit that does not campaign for candidates or political parties nor do we make campaign contributions, buy meals or drinks or otherwise try to influence elected officials or those running for office by offering personal gains.
Our sources of income are dues from member associations, their members’ contributions and individual contributions from At-Large Chapter’s members and other individuals.
In order to reach more individual members that can help us better understand retiree issues and thus help us define our agenda on an ongoing basis and in order to expand our local grassroots support networks, we are introducing Chapter organizations.
NRLN Chapters will be labeled “NRLN (xxx) Chapter” and be part of NRLN Grassroots Organization and will be governed by teams comprised of a President and Directors of Legislative Affairs, Recruitment and Communications. Chapter Boards are not required and one or more of the Chapter leaders may assume one or more of the leadership positions as situations dictate. We are encouraging a wide diversity of grassroots advocates from companies and other entities that may or may not have formal retiree organizations.
Chapters whose advocates are retired from companies where there is an existing NRLN Retiree Association that has established a working relationship with company officials, shall defer to the already existing NRLN Company Retiree Association or Company Chapter with regard to company relations and meetings.
The NRLN board approved changes to the NRLN Bylaws in 2012 that established Chapters as integral to the NRLN’s 501C (4) organization. Therefore, Chapters are to operate under the Bylaws and the Chapter Operating Model that was also approved in 2012 (as modified with board approval), as NRLN grassroots advocate organizations.
The NRLN board has established Chapters to manage NRLN grassroots operations in the states of AK, AZ, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, and the General Motors Retirees Chapter (GMRC), Avaya Chapter, DuPont Chapter and TVA Chapter members who serve as NRLN grassroots advocates in states.
The board approved modifications of the Chapter model in May of 2013 to include specific rules regarding the solicitation of contributions and then in September 2013 to stipulate that Chapters could recruit NRLN association’s members as grassroots CD leaders. All NRLN Action Network members are Grassroots advocates.
This model will be the template and policy guide for development of proposed new Chapters and all new Chapter proposals must be approved by the NRLN board.
Grassroots Advocate Recruitment: Chapters may use their website, emails, phone calls, newsletter inserts etc. to recruit Chapter Grassroots advocates. All current NRLN Association members will be considered advocates. There are no restrictions as to others who may be recruited to be a grassroots advocate and NRLN Action Network lists will be provided to aid in these recruitments. When NRLN Chapters are established within a state or region where there is an existing Grassroots organization the new Chapter’s advocates will be asked to assume advocate and leadership assignments by Regional and State leaders in concert with direction from the NRLN VP Grassroots as needs arise.
When a Chapter learns that a grassroots advocate recruited to lobby under the leadership of a Chapter is a current or past member of an NRLN association or company chapter or has retired from a company associated with an NRLN Association, they shall forward advocate data to the NRLN VP Communications who will validate the relationship and forward the advocates information to the appropriate association and then upload the data to the NRLN Action Network. Selected CD and State leaders names will be reported to the VP Grassroots.
In all other cases, names of grassroots advocates recruited to lobby under the leadership of a Chapter shall be forwarded to VP Communications who will upload the advocate data into the NRLN Action Network database. The VP Communications will review advocate data, upload it and, if necessary, forward names to appropriate associations. Selected CD and State leaders names will be reported to the VP Grassroots.
Grassroots Advocate Individual Contributions Solicitation: Chapters may use emails, phone calls, newsletter inserts or direct contact to solicit contributions but must exclude anyone who’s NRLN Action Network record is coded to note that the individual is a member of an NRLN association or a retiree from a company whose retirees could belong to an NRLN current Association. All Chapter solicitation lists will be prepared by the VP Commutations who will exclude such association affiliated individuals.
Chapter Leadership Teams will manage the efforts of all NRLN grassroots advocates engaged in NRLN grassroots activities in their approved territories, and when engaged in Grassroots activities will be referred to as NRLN Grassroots XXX (State or Geographic Area or as a Company Chapter). Chapters will recruit volunteers to serve on teams that will lobby the NRLN agenda in States and Congressional Districts (CDs) and will receive support from their Regional VPs and the NRLN VPs of Grassroots, Communications and Legislative Affairs and Chapters will collaborate with but not raid other NRLN Chapter or Association members. Any Grassroots advocate can serve in any capacity of the Grassroots team.
New NRLN Chapter States or Chapters proposed to be responsible for grassroots advocacy territories (one or more CDs) within states must be approved in advance by the NRLN board.
Where NRLN Chapters are formed in communities that require that community rules be followed, our Chapters are obligated to abide by such rules. Specifically, in such communities, our NRLN Chapters will conduct advocate recruitment, business meetings and other activities in compliance with local rules. The NRLN reserves the right to rescind its affiliation with a Chapter that does not comply.
See NRLN whitepapers for each of the above topics. Also see tax and other agenda issues.
See NRLN whitepapers for each of the above topics – also see other agenda issues that protect against health care service and product cost inflation increases that erode retiree income security.
All mail and email member contact information and the NRLN Treasurers database will be maintained on NRLN secured servers and access to or use of such data by third parties is prohibited.
Initially, Chapters are required to upload their member mailing lists to NRLN Capwiz, Mail Server and Treasurer’s databases; mailing address including 9-digit Zip Code, phone number and email addresses of all members.
New Chapter individual advocate applicants will use NRLN Individual Contribution forms coded for specific Chapters. Contributions will be sent directly to the NRLN’s Post Office box and the NRLN Treasurer will maintain Individual and Chapter revenue subaccounts.
Formation Assistance Team – NRLN President, NRLN Treasurer, Regional VP, VP Communications and VP Grassroots.
Ongoing Grassroots Assistance – training and materials; day to day collaboration and sharing of member contacts; setting of agenda priorities and other special assistance, as needed.
Mail, Email, Website, Phone Service and Financial Service Provided to Chapters by the NRLN:
Grassroots lobby messages and Action Alerts – will be sent by the NRLN VP Communication using the NRLN Action Network. Messages must be in support of the NRLN’s Legislative agenda. Any NRLN individual member on the NRLN Action Network database may “Opt-Out” at any time!
Phone conference calls – since most chapter business can be conducted without extra charges using member’s personal phones, conference service may not be necessary. When necessary, conference calls can be made using NRLN’s service provider.
Electronic Messaging – The NRLN assigns association and chapter codes to names on NRLN databases so that Association or Chapter leaders may develop messages in collaboration with the NRLN VP Communications who sends them over the NRLN Action Network.
The NRLN website will display a “Chapters” tab and sub-tabs that Chapter members can access to see how to contact NRLN and Chapter leaders. Chapter Communications Directors may work with NRLN Communication’s VP.
Accounting and Financial Service – collect contributions, maintain Chapter sub accounts and pay approved Chapter expenses.
Other Collaborative Support – Offer and coordinate communications and other support for collective activities among and between NRLN Chapters and Associations.
New Avaya CEO Allan Masarek needs to quickly come up with a strategy to manage the company into another Chapter 11, or to avoid it. The Avaya Union sponsored Pension Plan could be in the target this time around in another bankruptcy.
See article below for detailed information.
Avaya Braces for Big Changes to Avoid Chapter 11 Again
A new CEO and old problems set the stage for turbulent times ahead at Avaya.
By Dave Michels; No Jitter ~ Aug 01, 2022
To: Avaya Retirees Chapter – NRLN
From: Vern Larson, Chapter President
Avaya – Secured Creditors Likely To Wipe Out Equity Holders In Bankruptcy
By Henrik Alex, Seeking Alpha – Dec. 15, 2022
For fiscal year 2022, the company now projects negative free cash flow of approximately $420. For FY2022 and FY2023 combined, cash usage is expected to approach $600 million which includes almost $200 million in restructuring charges.
Even after proposed restructuring actions, free cash flow is expected to remain negative until fiscal year 2027.
Please note that liquidity projections in the slide above are based on a number of assumptions:
Over the past couple of weeks, the company and certain creditor groups have exchanged term sheets for both out-of-court and in-court restructurings.
But with key creditor groups not supporting an out-of-court transaction, Avaya is likely to file for chapter 11 in the not-too-distant future.
According to the term sheet provided by certain holders of the company’s term loans and its 2028 senior secured notes, secured creditors would become the new owners of the business thus wiping out existing equity holders:
At the end of Q3, the company’s unrestricted cash balance amounted to $253 million with total liquidity of $343 million, insufficient to deal with projected cash outflows going forward.
Moreover, the restructured business won’t be able to support Avaya’s massive $3+ billion debt load going forward, so there’s not much of a choice for the ailing company.
Judging by this week’s disclosures, Avaya is likely to file for bankruptcy in the near future with secured creditors about to emerge as the company’s new owners thus wiping out existing equity holders, very much as projected by me in late July.
Last week, Avaya dropped a few bombshells. First, it issued a preliminary third-quarter warning that it now expects a major decline in third-quarter revenue and then announced a new CEO.
The company now believes third-quarter revenue (ending June 2022) will land between $575-580 million, down from its previous guidance of $685-700 million. Actual results are expected to be reported on August 9, 2022.
The miss is very concerning for three reasons. First, the sudden change indicates revenue is declining far faster than expected. The company is missing targets that were revised lower last quarter. Secondly, a month ago, the company raised $600 million, which was presumably based on previous guidance. The third and biggest concern is that the revised revenue forecast is expected to generate only $50-55 million in EBITDA (down from $140-150 million). Avaya spent $54 million on interest expenses last quarter alone, signaling an impending cash crisis. To counter, Avaya also announced a severe cost-cutting measure, but that’s unlikely to be enough.
Regarding the change in leadership, a separate press release stated Jim Chirico “will be removed from his positions as president and CEO of Avaya.” The wording was urgent and authoritative, and it appears to cast all blame on the CEO. But many of us have wondered why the board didn’t act sooner — years sooner. Avaya’s new CEO will be Alan Masarek, who was the CEO of Vonage from 2014-2020.
Looking Back at Avaya’s History
This news certainly requires a lot of unpacking. Let me start by saying Avaya is one of the most complicated companies in our industry. That’s because Avaya has a direct lineage back to Ma Bell. Long story short, the original Bell System had a division called Western Electric that was founded in 1869. It built most of the switches used in the original PSTN. The company/division has gone through a lot of names and owners over the past 153 years, but there is a direct path to Avaya.
There’s more to its complexity than history. The enterprise communications sector has gone through three major disruptive shifts in the past few decades: to converged IP communications, from hardware to software, and from products to (cloud-delivered) services.
Most of the incumbents did not complete the journey, including Aastra, Ericsson, Nortel, Mitel, Siemens, ShoreTel, Toshiba, and more. Avaya itself ended up in Chapter 11 in 2017. Transformation is hard, and many of the top providers today haven’t gone through such existential challenges.
At the end of 2017, Avaya named Jim Chirico its new CEO. Chirico had been with the company for ten years and was most recently its chief restructuring officer. This would be his first CEO opportunity. He wasn’t technical but had Laurent Philonenko, SVP solutions and technology, and Mo Nezarati, VP cloud and GM (and architect) of Zang (Avaya’s CPaaS product), to guide him. Philonenko had senior leadership experience from two of Avaya’s top competitors: Cisco and Genesys. Nikos Nikolopoulos also returned to Avaya as its SVP for strategy and corporate development.
In early 2018, a lot of optimism and excitement surrounded Avaya. As the Chapter 11 process ended, Avaya once again became a publicly traded company. Despite some losses, its impressive customer base was proven loyal and still included many of the largest companies and governments in the world. The bankruptcy process reduced its debt, enabling Avaya to invest in its future once again.
It was clear then that the cloud was the future, so the strategy was to build a UCaaS and CCaaS solution for both new and existing customers. The company had the brand, customers, channels, and cash to pull this off. One of Chirico’s first big hires was Mercer Rowe to spearhead the development of Avaya’s cloud.
Avaya started 2018 with a bang. In January, it announced the acquisition of Spoken for approximately $180 million. Spoken had supposedly cracked the code on adapting Avaya solutions for the cloud. The Spoken team would report to Mercer Rowe… at least until he departed a few months later. Avaya then hired Gaurav Passi in November as its new cloud president.
While the company was working on Spoken, it also had a few other notable cloud assets. It had done an admirable job of adapting its IP office solution to a cloud service known as IP Office Cloud. Avaya launched a UCaaS service in Europe that it co-developed with 2600Hz. Also, Avaya launched a CPaaS and meeting cloud service called Zang in 2017 under its previous CEO.
No cloud service ever came out of the Spoken acquisition, and today, no Spoken executives remain at Avaya. Nezarati left Avaya in May 2018. Avaya was back to the drawing board for a cloud solution in 2019. The company rehired Chris McGugan as its CTO, who previously worked at Avaya from 2005-2014 in various technical leadership roles. Nikolopoulos and Philonenko departed Avaya in early 2019.
RingCentral Enters the Picture
Avaya concluded that it was better to partner than build its UCaaS solution. In October 2019, Avaya and RingCentral announced a partnership that created Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral (ACO). The idea was to allow Avaya to monetize its SMB base immediately, which would allow it to focus on the development of a next-generation cloud contact center.
The RingCentral partnership was significant for Avaya in many ways. This was the first time Avaya offered a third-party solution as a primary platform. Avaya had to compete with essentially identical offers from other RingCentral partners. ACO accelerated Avaya’s shift to a subscription-based revenue model, which it was able to replicate with enterprise customers on OneCloud.
The RingCentral partnership came with some onerous requirements. Avaya granted RingCentral exclusive UCaaS rights to its customers. This meant it had to discontinue IP Office Cloud, which had been building market momentum. Avaya also had to discontinue its UCaaS offer in Europe that it was co-developing with 2600Hz. RingCentral paid Avaya commissions up front, which will need to be returned if Avaya misses on sales.
More significantly, ACO conflicted with other Avaya products. Avaya relaunched Zang as Avaya Spaces, which included messaging and video services, but they were incompatible with ACO. RingCentral built a strong integration to the NICE CXone CCaaS, so ACO customers had conflicting contact center options. RingCentral also obtained a seat on Avaya’s board. Soon after the partnership, McGugan and Passi left Avaya.
The Revolving Door at Avaya
Throughout Chirico’s tenure, Avaya’s C-suite has gone through a revolving door. Over the next few years, we would see the arrival and departure of many technical executives, including Hardy Myers for strategy and business development, Anthony Bartolo as chief product officer, and Karl Perkins as CTO. It was more than the technical leadership. Over the past five years, Avaya has had multiple CFOs, marketing heads, and sales leaders. Many of which were familiar names from other communications firms, including Dino Di Palma, Jon Brinton, and Becky Carr. All these executives held long-term successful positions with other employers.
The cost of turnover is difficult to calculate, but clearly, Avaya’s technical vision and roadmap suffered. The company has not clearly communicated a detailed vision or technical roadmap for some time. The few significant updates that did occur were poorly communicated. Avaya possibly renamed all its products OneCloud to obfuscate the direction and health of individual product lines within its portfolio.
Tens of millions of dollars were spent on executive severance packages. I suspect a few executives are waiting to get fired. Passi hasn’t listed another position on his LinkedIn profile since departing Avaya almost three years ago.
In addition to Spoken and executive turnover, the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing its own stock. The board approved up to $500 million in repurchasing stock. In its March 2021 10Q filing, it reported the repurchase of 245,000 shares at an average price of $29.69 a share — near its all-time high. The stock is trading for less than a dollar today. That filing indicated Avaya spent $163 million so far.
It’s also worth noting that Jim Chirico took home about $14 million in compensation last year. This made him one of the highest-paid CEOs in the industry. Chirico’s compensation consisted of 70%, or $9.7 million, in stock awards. Chirico also received $2.8 million in non-equity incentive plan, $1.3 million in salary, as well as $35,000 in other compensation. He may be eligible for a severance package this year.
The bottom line is that Avaya squandered a lot of money and time and has little to show for it. Meanwhile, its competitors are growing. Just last week, Five9 raised its guidance and specifically cited accelerated growth in enterprise CCaaS. Genesys, NICE, and others have been successfully targeting Avaya contact center customers. The UCaaS sector too saw spectacular growth during the pandemic. Microsoft, Zoom, and others offer products and services directly competitive to Avaya.
What’s Next
Alan Masarek accepting this position implies his confidence that Avaya can be fixed. But as I said above, Avaya is an extraordinarily complex company, exponentially more complex than Vonage was. This is primarily because of the size and complexity of Avaya’s customers and its global reach.
Masarek isn’t going to have the time to get to know Avaya like he should before making significant changes. Fortunately, he’ll be getting a lot of advice from employees, analysts, and former executives. The first priority is assessing the cash situation. Masarek needs to urgently determine if his strategy is to manage the company into Chapter 11 or avoid it. Regardless, he must rebuild trust with investors. It’s important to note that we don’t yet have an explanation for the shortfall in revenue.
The next priority is to figure out the cloud. This is probably what attracted Masarek to take the position, as he’s done this before. Vonage first pivoted from consumer to business, then from BroadSoft-powered to a native, new platform. This will start with a build-vs-buy analysis. I assume Avaya has some compelling solutions in its labs. He has time to build as we are still in the early stages of large enterprises adopting CCaaS.
I would not rule out Avaya acquiring companies, though probably not with cash. Avaya can instead leverage its global customer base. For example, Google struck a strategic arrangement with Ujet earlier this year that didn’t require a formal acquisition. Also, several struggling CCaaS providers should be open to creative options. Renegotiating a more equitable deal with RingCentral may be possible, particularly with the threat of Chapter 11.
I expect Masarek will also prioritize cultural changes; a new CEO will facilitate this through the usual C-level changes and cost-cutting. At Vonage, he implemented several changes to make its offices a desirable destination for employees.
Masarek brings to Avaya experience with UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS. He holds a Harvard MBA and has a great track record for successful acquisitions. I’ve always had the impression Masarek truly enjoys this stuff. I recall Vonage multi-day analyst events where he attended and participated in every session. I also remember him working the booth at Enterprise Connect. Avaya ceased analyst events and exhibiting at Enterprise Connect, an event it once dominated, several years ago.
I applaud the Avaya board for selecting Masarek. Stock market investors were quick to panic last week, driving the share price below a dollar. Chapter 11 is possible but not inevitable.
Let’s hope Masarek and his work at Avaya becomes a future chapter in business school textbooks.
Dave Michels is a contributing editor and analyst at TalkingPointz.
To: Avaya Chapter Members – NRLN
From: Vern Larson, President, Avaya Retirees Chapter
Subject: Avaya and Delphi Salaried Retirees’ Pensions
The NRLN email announcing that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the H.R.6929, the Susan Muffley Act of 2022, to restore pensions for Delphi salaried retirees has resulted in my receiving questions about restoring Avaya salaried retirees’ pensions.
Some have asked whether the passage of H.R.6929 would also include Avaya retirees who lost some of their pension benefits after the PBGC took over our plan when Avaya terminated our pension plan during its bankruptcy in 2017. Others asked whether there could be a bill introduced to restore pensions for Avaya retirees.
The short answer to both questions is “No”. The Delphi salaried retirees pension situation is much different than Avaya salaried retirees.
Delphi was created in 1999 as an auto-parts manufacturing subsidiary of General Motors. You may recall the auto industry melt down during the great recession (December 2007 to June 2009). When GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009 the federal government stepped in to speed up bring GM out of bankruptcy and fully protected GM’s and the Delphi UAW unions’ pensions. But the pension plan for Delphi salaried retirees (well-funded at 87%) was terminated, taken over by PBGC, and many of the 21,000 Delphi salaried retirees suffered payment reductions of up to 70%. Many Delphi retirees were in their 50s in 2009, so even PBGC’s age 65 pension amount was heavily discounted.
When Avaya declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2017 our salaried pension plan was only funded at 58%. The bankruptcy court judge approved Avaya’s petition to terminate our pension plan and it was taken over by the PBGC and payments to us are based on PGBC regulations. The NRLN has been lobbying Congress to find champions to change the ERISA statute, to demand that companies fund pension plans to the 100% level. This change could have saved the Avaya plan. None of the Nebraska or other state Senators or Representatives stand up to speak for retirees. They need to step up or step back.
The federal government did not have a role in the termination of our pension plan during the Avaya bankruptcy and that is a big difference from the Delphi salaried retirees’ pension plan. Apparently, the U.S. Representatives who introduced, co-sponsored and voted to pass H.R.6929 believed that the federal government picked winners and losers in the GM bankruptcy and the injustice to Delphi salaried retirees needs to be rectified.
Further, Delphi salaried retirees contributed some $9 million to the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association (DSRA) to fight its legal battle to restore their pensions all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. After the Justices declined to hear its case, DSRA used its remaining financial resources to conduct its battle in the legislative arena. At that point, the NRLN was asked to step in to help lobby for the Muffley Act passage and NRLN formed the Delphi Retirees Chapter.
The National Retiree Legislative Network learned the hard way, having a front row seat as Delphi, Kodak, Avaya and other plans were terminated and learned what needed to be changed. The NRLN has proposed changes to bankruptcy laws and the way PBGC uses a lower liability discount rate to understate pension funding levels. Almost always it is these issues with ERISA language that are problematic in plan terminations. This was the case with the Avaya salaried pension plan – an underfunded plan and a set of bankruptcy rules that favor secured creditors and corporate restructuring to survive but termination of underfunded plans.
Vern Larson
President, Avaya Retirees Chapter
Vice President – NRLN Membership Development
There was no major change in funding as the Moving Ahead Act from 2014 is still in effect. This allows the company to use a more generous interest rates to attain getting closer to full funding by spreading out the time a little longer. There is also some relief to allow a delay for annual funding this year due to COVID-19 if a company meets certain thresholds, so Avaya will most likely be doing that. Many companies have already issued notices that they will be doing this. The law allows them to postpone funding in 2020 but will need to pay it in 2021 with interested incurred.
The plan is underfunded but not to the extent that any action is required by the company or by any outside body. The Avaya fund still has the backstop of the PGBC. I don’t think there is any question that all those in this plan will get their pensions. If Avaya were to ever become a huge success and fully fund this pension plan, they could end the plan by paying out the annuity funding to the individuals in the plan. However, we don’t see that happening. If Avaya were to go broke then the PGBC still comes in to protect the individual getting a pension just as they did for our Salaried Penson Fund during the past Avaya Bankruptcy settlement.
The Avaya Represented Pension Plan as of end of March had a little over 1,800 terminated vested participants not aged in yet and roughly 4,200 in pay status.
I want to remind everyone to make sure they provide address changes to the pension center when they occur and also if they are age 65 or over, they need to call the pension center to start their benefits. Avaya currently has about 70 that have not started taking their vested pensions yet. (If you know anyone that is vested in this category tell them to contact Avaya Pension Center.)
In closing, I hope all of you and your families stay well and also to remind you that the NRLN Annual appeal letter was mailed to all members a couple of weeks ago. Please help us with what you can to continue our next big fight regarding equal treatment for regular Medicare members as those provided to Medicare Advantage members. If you don’t have your letter you can contribute at this link here, Contribute to the NRLN. If you have already made your 2020 contribution, thank you. Remember, make sure to note that you are an Avaya retiree.
Best regards,
Vern Larson, President
NRLN Avaya Retirees Chapter and
NRLN Vice President -Membership Development
*Note: SaaS is a method of software delivery and licensing in which software is accessed online via a subscription, rather than bought and installed on individual computers. Avaya’s cloud-based SaaS platform helps IT professionals strategically manage and forecast IT costs (also known as subscribeware or rentware).
The NRLN Arizona Chapter was the first to organize under the NRLN’s chapter structure in January 2013. The Arizona Chapter was originally established to reach out to US West/Qwest/CenturyLink retirees who were members of their retirement organization (TRA/AUSWR-AZ), which disbanded. In fact, many of the Board Members from TRA-AZ became leaders of the NRLN Arizona Chapter: Martha Deahl, Susan Olson, and Ken and Jennifer Gornall.
The Chapter also welcomes members from other companies and public entities as long as they are not already members of an NRLN Association (see Member Associations under “about us” at www.nrln.org. Retirees who become NRLN Chapter members will receive NRLN Action Alerts on federal legislation that impacts their retirement income security and reduce health care cost.
All AZ Chapter members are advocates belonging to the NRLN Grassroots Organization Network. Some NRLN AZ Grassroots’ advocates volunteer to become AZ Congressional District Leaders and make local visits to their respective Congressional District Offices and sometimes travel to Washington, D.C. to attend an NRLN “Fly-In”. The purpose of these visits are to educate the members of Congress on the NRLN’s Legislative Agenda (see the Legislative Agenda tab at www.nlrn.org), to make them aware of pending legislation that needs support and provide feedback of their performance (see Grassroots tab on www.nrln.org then click on Congressional Report Cards).
If you believe you are enrolled but are not receiving email from NRLN, check your junk-mail or spam folder and designate email from contact@nrln.org as a “safe sender”. If you find no quarantined email, or if you changed your email address, please send a note to contact@nrln.org to check, revise and confirm your status. You also may have enrolled but failed to check the box to receive emails. If this is the case your enrollment status will be corrected.
Contributions –to NRLN are voluntary but needed and appreciated. CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW
Click HereOr, send an email to arizonachapter@nrln.org with your name, email address, home address and telephone number. Note: you may be a chapter member whether you retired from US West, Qwest, CenturyLink or any other company, or whether you are still employed by the company.
We could use other retirees to help us interface with our AZ Senators’ and Representatives’ local offices. If they don’t hear from us, they assume we are happy with what they are doing. We need a voice for all retirees, many who cannot travel to visit their Senators and Representatives. Please help us spread the word about the NRLN and specifically the AZ Chapter and the work we are doing to help protect retirees’ interests. Please discuss the NRLN with all of you friends and encourage them to sign up to receive free emails at www.nrln.org. Remind them that their names, emails and home addresses are on a secure database designed for communicating with them and federal government officials.
Also, if you would like to go to a local congressional office with your Congressional District leader, please give them a call.
We always need constituents to go along on these visits. To find your Congressional District Leader, see “NRLN AZ Chapter Contact List” below.
NRLN Grassroots Nationwide Network is divided into 10 Regions which is headed by a Regional Vice President. I am the Arizona Chapter President and Regional VP for Arizona. Bob Martina, NRLN Executive Grassroots Vice-President holds a monthly conference call to discuss important issues. Many pending legislative bills are usually sent to important committees in both the Senate and House. These important committees are referred to the NRLN’s Relevant (or Key) Committees. A complete NRLN Relevant Committee List for all states can be found of the NRLN website under the Grassroots link.
Twice a year NRLN members attend a conference in Washington, DC which includes appointments known as the Hill visits directly with the DC offices of their specific Senators, Representatives or their Chief-of-Staff or Legislative Director. Due to Congressional votes and other interruptions visits could be scheduled with other various staff members. The NRLN prepares folders with supporting documentation of the important NRLN issues that will be discussed during the Hill visits and then left as handouts.
Click here to access the NRLN Talking Points used during these visits.
For the past 9 years I have been able to attend these conferences (referred to as Fly-ins) but I was unable to attend this past February.
NRLN Grassroots Regional VPs committee created a process by which Congressional Leaders would be email a copy of the NRLN DC Folder used during these Hill visits to Senators/Representatives’ Chief-of-Staff and Legislative Director that were not visited during the NRLN Conference but were on a relevant committee. Since I was unable to attend this past February, I sent emails to the following AZ Congressional Leaders:
It is important for you to know the NRLN is hard at work representing you. Please join as Individual Member for 2020.
Martha Deahl
NRLN Vice President
Desert Southwest Region
AZ/NM/NV and
NRLN Arizona Chapter President
Now is the time for your Senators and Representatives to hear your voices! Let them know how you feel about their lack of action when it comes to protecting retirees’ benefits.
The following “Report Card” shows whether Arizona members of Congress sponsored or cosponsored or voted for bills the NRLN supported in the current 115th Congress. Click here to access the Arizona Congressional delegation webpage on the NRLN website. Then click on the tab NRLN STATE REPORT CARD (EXCEL DOWNLOAD).
Message from Bill Kadereit, NRLN President
Do you know…Beginning in 2020, Social Security will pay more in benefits than it takes in from taxes and interest income? Social Security will deplete its $2.9 trillion reserve fund in 2035. While the program will not go bankrupt due to payroll taxes, projections are benefits would be cut between one-fourth to one-third.
Do you know…Medicare’s Hospital Insurance program (Medicare Part A) is pointed toward insolvency by 2026? At that time, Medicare Part A will only have enough funds to pay about 87% of costs. The Supplementary Medical Insurance (Medicare Part B and Part D) trust fund remains adequately financed throughout the projection period because of beneficiaries’ premiums and general taxpayer revenues.
Do you know…The NRLN and your Chapter are working to get Congress to adopt our proposals to save Social Security and Medicare for the next 75 years?
Do you know…Congress is allowing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize private insurance companies for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to serve as a “Trojan horse” to move toward privatization? The NRLN and your Chapter opposes the use of MA plans to privatize Medicare.
Do you know…An analysis has shown that privatizing Medicare would increase the cost to beneficiaries by 18%? This is not cost improvement. This is cost shifting to seniors and the NRLN opposes it.
Do you know…The NRLN supports legislation to allow Medicare to do competitive bidding>for lower prescription drug prices? We want to end pay-for-delay and other brand name drug makers’ tactics that obstruct generic drugs from coming to market, and allow importation of safe and less expensive drugs from Canada.
Do you know…Far too often pension plan sponsors find an error in the pension payment calculation and force retirees to pay back thousands of dollars and suffer a large cut in benefits? The NRLN proposes an amendment to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to indemnify individual plan participants from the requirement to refund overpayments by instructing actuaries to account for recoupment as a plan funding risk requiring very small adjustments to plan actuarial calculations.
Do you know…Many employers are selling pension plans to insurance company annuities? The steady decline in traditional defined-benefit pension plans through “de-risking” will continue with 76% of plan sponsors saying they plan to shed their pensions. When “de-risking” occurs with the purchase of an insurance annuity, pension plan participants lose the protection of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the ERISA. The NRLN’s proposed legislation would protect retirees.
Topics of Interest
From: Martha Deahl, NRLN Vice President Desert Southwest Region, AZ/NM/NV Desertsouthwestregion@NRLN.org
Subject: Change in CenturyLink Concession Service
Changes in CenturyLink Concession Service policy was updated on May 3, 2018 which affects management retirees. The policy states:
“If you are enrolled in concessions prior to May 3, 2018, you may keep your current concessions. However, if you change your services, apply for the new concession program, or move to a new address any time after May 3, 2018, you may not be able to revert to your prior concession offer.”
Thanks, Martha
You can contact Congress in many ways– click here to see how!
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Double click any Congressional Leader for information.
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Contributions –to NRLN and DRC are voluntary but needed and appreciated. Click here for Contributions.
Welcome current and future DuPont retirees –The NRLN (National Retirees Legislative Network) is a nationwide organization that advocates for federal legislation to protect retiree benefits including pensions, company provided healthcare, Social Security, Medicare, and lower prescription drug costs. We started this DuPont Retirees Chapter (DRC) due to concerns about the long-term security of our underfunded pension plan. With our email utility delivering key documents to our members directly, and with this webpage, we strive to be a key communication mechanism on retiree issues, as Dow DuPont carries out a plan to split into three smaller companies.
Please review our communications on pension and other retiree issues in the left column below. The most current notes are always visible, while older communications are archived in reverse chronological order. The right column below is a repository of pertinent media articles about the merger and pension issues. We hope that you will review the wealth of information on our DRC page.
DuPont Retiree Website
Welcome Message from Chapter President – 7/25/2016
DuPont U.S. Retiree Benefits Website | DuPont USA This is the place for DuPont’s U.S. retirees to access the most up-to-date information about your DuPont benefits. Materials include the latest information.
Life Insurance Options Note to DuPont Retirees
Life Insurance Benefit Reversal
Vangard Restores Benefits to Retirees
July 1, 2021 To: DuPont Retirees Chapter Members From: Paul Kende Subject: Life Insurance Options
Email from Corteva Connections about fraud protection – another follow up 3/25/21
Email from Corteva Connections 3/24/21
DuPont/Corteva Pension Plan – Class Action Complaint Status 10/14/20
DuPont/Corteva Pension Plan Historical Financial Overview 7/20/20
February 2020 NRLN Meeting in Washington, DC
July 31, 2019 (May 13, 2019 note with revised graph – Participant population line shifted by 1 year)
Class Action Complaint August 1, 2019
Pension Plan Allocation Decision 11.1.18
Pension Plan DeRisking 10.14.18
DuPont Pension Plan Update 10.19.18
Pension Plan DeRisking 10.14.18
DuPont Pension Plan Funding Status Update 10.1.18
Financial Status of the DuPont Pension Plan 5.9.18
NRLN Annual Leadership Conference Trip Report 3/19/18
Financial Status of the DuPont Pension Plan 1/5/2018
NRLN DuPont Retirees Chapter Webpage Updated 11.20.17
Conference Call with PBGC 11/20/17
September Fly-In Report and Annual Request for Contributions – 9/20/2017
Membership Drive Report to DRC – 9/19/17
Comments on DuPont Pension Plan Status and Outlook – 9/18/17
When PBGC takes over a pension plan- 8/11/17
Requesting Your Help to Grow the NRLN DuPont Retirees Chapter (DRC)- 8/5/17
Report To DuPont Retirees Chapter Membership – 7/31/17
DuPont’s plan to contribute $2.9B to its US Pension Plan in 2017 -5/4/17
Report on NRLN Fly-In Event in Washington on March 13-15, 2017
Company Paid Survivor Benefit 2/6/2017
Help Spread the Word on NRLN DuPont Retirees Chapter 1/7/2017
Update on Pension Security 11/21/16
Report on Capitol Hill Lobbying Session, and a Request for Feedback (10/23/16)
Chapter Proposal Cover Letter – 7/5/16
DuPont Factsheet SEC Filing 5/25/16
Cover Note for Letter to DuPont – 3/28/16
Letter to DuPont Executives- 3/25/16
DuPont’s Letter to Pension Plan Participants – February 2016
Click the Star to Return to the NRLN Dupont Chapter Page.
The NRLN General Motors Retirees Chapter (GMRC) was launched on September 18, 2014 at a breakfast meeting in Troy, Michigan attended by 134 GM retirees and spouses. GMRC is reaching out to General Motors retirees and future retirees so it can increase Grassroots Network Members’ participation in advocating federal legislation to protect retirement income security and reduce health care costs. At the top of most GM retirees’ list of concerns are Social Security and Medicare protection and reducing the cost of prescription drugs. The Chapter brings together GM retirees and future retirees who want to unite their common interests in having a voice in Washington, D.C. by advancing the NRLN’s Legislative agenda to benefit GM retirees and all of America’s retirees.
The GMRC’s founding leadership team includes:
GM terminated health care at age 65 but added $300/month per retiree or surviving spouse to pensions, replaced pensions with lump sums or Prudential annuities, life insurance was reduced to $10,000 for retirees of record on 8/1/2009 and as of 1/1/2014 life insurance was terminated for all other current and future retirees. Here is what’s left to protect:
Social Security – The NRLN is lobbying for the passage the Social Security 2100 Act. It would ensure funding the program for the next 75 years and change the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) from the current CPI-W pegged to urban wage earners’ living expenses to CPI-E (Elderly) based on older Americans’ spending patterns, including medical costs.
Medicare – The NRLN is lobbying to add a low out-of-pocket cap to original Medicare. Far too many seniors in original Medicare are forced to go without critical health care because they cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs. With this additional benefit, original Medicare would be on a more level playing field with Medicare Advantage plans which are required to have an out-of-pocket cap. The NRLN is also advocating that vision, hearing and dental benefits be added to Medicare.
Immunizations for Seniors – The NRLN is supporting passage of the Protecting Seniors Through Immunizations Act that would provide Medicare beneficiaries access to all recommended vaccines at no additional cost. Some immunizations are covered under Medicare Part B without any out-of-pocket costs, while some vaccines covered under Medicare Part D require significant out-of-pocket costs.
Trust Act – The NRLN is opposing the TRUST Act which would create “rescue committees” for Social Security and Medicare that would operate outside of the regular order of Congress, behind closed doors, and the committees’ recommendations would be fast-tracked for votes without amendments on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Funding needs to be increased for the Social Security Trust and Medicare Trust, but the policies should not be made without public Congressional hearings and behind closed doors.
Inpatient Rule – The NRLN is lobbying for passage of the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act which would fix an arbitrary Medicare rule that patients who receive hospital care on “observation status” do not qualify for the benefit of skilled nursing care, even if their hospital stay lasts longer than three days and even if their care team prescribes it. Under current Medicare policy, a beneficiary must have an “inpatient” hospital stay of at least three days for Medicare to cover skilled nursing care. Patients on “observation status” are either forced to return home without the treatment they have been prescribed, or, as often happens, they believed they were an “inpatient” and are unexpectedly billed astronomical amounts after their stays in a skilled nursing facility.
Prescription Drugs – We are lobbying for bills to reduce the price of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to do competitive bidding, end pay-for-delay and other brand name drug makers’ tactics that keep generics off the market and support importation of less expensive drugs that meet FDA safety standards.
Telehealth – Telehealth has been a critical lifeline for millions of retirees who needed care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The NRLN is lobbying to make sure that telehealth coverage for Medicare beneficiaries is made permanent.
Taxes – The NRLN advocates legislation to amend the tax code to eliminate federal and state taxes on all Social Security income and/or allow a tax credit for taxes withheld.
Volume 7, Number 2 Fall 2022
GM Retirees Chapter President’s Message
Hello GM Retirees,
Fall has arrived here in Michigan, and we are enjoying the cooler temps and the beautiful colors. We try not to think too far beyond that because we know what comes next. Time to dig out the boots and hats. As I thought about what to include in this edition of the Newsletter I decided to do some strolling through the GM.com web site. While I continue to be disappointed that the web site has no reference to Retirees, (or at least none that I could find), I did find some interesting news items about what is going on at GM, and I would encourage you to do some exploring on the site.
As always, I would encourage you to check the NRLN website (www.nrln.org) news related to Retiree issues. For most of us, the best thing we can do to be “part of the solution” is to click on the “Action Alert” button when we get a request from the NRLN. You can learn more about the NRLN Legislative Agenda and listen to the most recent Podcast from our President, Bill Kadereit, by visiting www.nrln.org.
Current issues highlighted on www.nrln.org are:
Larry Hice, President, GM Retirees Chapter
National Retiree Legislative Network
Email: larryhttp@aol.com
Cell: 248-961-5126
Hello GM Retirees,
Summer has officially arrived with record heat across much of the country. It almost makes you forget all those cold days back in January and February. Too bad we can’t find a way to bottle up this heat and carry it into next winter. Despite the heat wave, the NRLN continues to press our elected officials for common sense solutions to the issues that affect all Retirees.
I encourage you to read the Summer 2022 edition of the NRLN FOCUS Newsletter HERE. President Kadereit explains the current situation with the on-going effort to privatize traditional Medicare. In typical government slight-of-hand, the CMS solves the problem by inventing more acronyms that use big words to say nothing. As Bill correctly says in his column, “privatization of Medicare will fail again!” The NRLN will continue to fight this fight and push for solutions that make sense.
The battle also continues over the funding of Medicare and Social Security. Some of us may not see this as a personal concern, but it certainly is for our children and grandchildren. This political football continues to be kicked around, with each side pointing fingers at the other side, and no one stepping into the breach to lead us to a solution. We all need to communicate with our elected officials at all levels of government urging them to act now to find a solution to this impending tsunami. This is NOT a right or left problem. It is an “all of us” problem.
As always, I urge you to be “part of the solution” and help the NRLN advocate for legislation that will help all retirees. Respond to the “Action Alert” requests because it does make a difference. A lot of individual voices add up to a BIG voice and may just be the leverage that is needed to pass legislation that will help all retirees. You can learn more about the NRLN Legislative Agenda and listen to the most recent Podcast from our President, Bill Kadereit by visiting nrln.org.
Larry Hice, President, GM Retirees Chapter
National Retiree Legislative Network
larryhttp@aol.com
248-961-5126 cell
Hello GM Retirees,
I normally start these messages with comments about the weather, good or bad, here in Michigan. Then I move on to some non-offensive, (at least I hope they are non-offensive), comments about the political situation in DC. Considering what is going on in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, that all seems trivial and meaningless. I ask that, if you are a believer, please pray for peace and sanity.
The NRLN continues to advocate for all Retirees, and I would encourage you to check the website on a regular basis for news and views. For most of us, the best thing we can do to be “part of the solution” is to click on the “Action Alert” button when we get a request from the NRLN. A lot of individual voices add up to a BIG voice and may just be the leverage that is needed to pass legislation that will help all retirees. You can learn more about the NRLN Legislative Agenda and listen to the most recent Podcast from our President, Bill Kadereit by visiting nrln.org.
Current issues highlighted on nrln.org are:
Larry Hice, President, GM Retirees Chapter
National Retiree Legislative Network
larryhttp@aol.com
248-961-5126 cell
Become an NRLN/GMRC Individual Member by making an annual contribution of $25, $50, $75 or more. Any amount you can contribute will be appreciated. You may make your check or money order payable to NRLN, Inc. and mail it with the Contribution Form. Or, make your contribution with your credit card. Click HERE to make a contribution.
The NRLN is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. Contributions are not tax deductible.
NRLN, Inc.
P.O. Box 18757
Washington, D.C. 20036-8757.
Or, make your contribution online with your credit card here.
Recently you received a message from the Board of EKRA announcing the decision to dissolve the organization by November 1, 2021. The announcement noted EKRA’s long affiliation with the National Retiree Legislative Network and the NRLN’s interest in forming the NRLN Kodak Retirees Chapter.
Welcome to your new NRLN Kodak Retirees Chapter. The Chapter’s webpage has been created at www.nrln.org (click on the Chapters tab) to provide relevant Chapter news, company news, contact information for Kodak retirement benefits and the Chapter will have email capability to communicate with its members.
Nearly 1,800 Kodak retirees have been receiving NRLN emails for years. If this is the first time you are receiving an NRLN email, there is a link at www.nrln.org to the NRLN FOCUS newsletter. Also, there is a link to the NRLN Review, a monthly summary of the NRLN’s work. You will receive our Action Alerts on important matters to address with your U.S. Representative and Senators, and at times with the President. You will also receive other emails to keep you informed on retirement issues. You will not receive junk or nuisance emails.
The EKRA’s dissolution announcement stated that EKRA has a very small cash balance which will be used to help start the NRLN Kodak Retirees Chapter. Since the EKRA has not collected membership dues in recent years its contribution for the formation of the Chapter will need to be supplemented by a future appeal to Chapter members to make a voluntary contribution in any amount they can afford to offset near term startup and operating expense.
The Chapter will operate under the same model and rules governing 12 other Chapters. Visit the NRLN website homepage at www.nlrn.org and click the Chapter tab on the taskbar to see a list of current Chapters and the Chapters model document.
Bill Kadereit
President
National Retiree Legislative Network
Email: contact@nrln.org
Kodak Retiree Service and Benefits Center
1 -877-995-6325 KRIP Pension (Tax Election, Direct Deposit, Address Changes, Reporting Death)
MetLife – Survivor Income Benefit (SIB)
1-800-458-2479 For those who are receiving SIB pension benefits 1-866-492-6983 For those who have questions on eligibility or applying for benefits
1 -800-747-4968 Kodak SIP Service Center
1-888-607-4764 Kodak Medical Services Retiree medical records
Joe Sciulli
Chapter President
December, 2022
Those of us who live in Northern areas have watched temperatures and snow fall these past few days. Some free advice: step carefully, and practice balance control often. And let the younger folks put up the holiday decorations.
As the holidays near, we are thankful for the many Lucent retirees who have supported us and helped to further our mission for twenty years.
For the latest good news, Click the Legislative News tab below.
Retirees can use the YBR website for benefit-related activities such as:
https://digital.alight.com/nokia
We regularly inform members about important news. If you have mistakenly ‘unsubscribed’ to one of our emails, you will no longer hear from us unless you re-subscribe.
To “re-subscribe”, or to sign up to receive our emails, or if you are not sure we have your current address, CLICK HERE
You may have read Bill Kadereit’ s NRLN President’s Forum email on Tuesday that announced the three NRLN lobbying issues that are included in Congress’ omnibus bill. Lucent/Nokia Retirees Chapter members had a significant role in this accomplishment because you are often #1 or #2 in sending the largest number of NRLN Action Alert emails to your members of Congress.
Pension Recoupment: Until now, a company could “recoup” or recover pension overpayments made to a retiree when it discovered them, no matter how long it had been. With the new law, the company does not have an obligation to recoup; But if it does recoup:
Section 420 Transfers: This IRS provision was about to expire, but this legislation has extended it. The NRLN’s proposal in the new law lowered the threshold of when companies can use these funds to 110%, down from 125%. This means more companies will be able to tap excess pension funds to provide retirees with healthcare and life insurance benefits.
Pension Annual Funding Notice: Before this new law, pensioners received their AFN and it failed to provide a clear picture of how well their pension plan was funded. This was because by the time they received an AFN in April, it contained data calculated 16 months earlier. The NRLN advocated for common sense solutions: use year-end valuation so when retirees receive their AFN the date is only four months old. Also, the AFN will be simplified by moving all relevant data to a table on the front page.
All three issues are important to Lucent/Nokia retirees. However, the most prominent issue is Section 420 Transfers because it will allow Nokia (and other companies) with well-funded pension plans to use pension trust assets in excess of the 110% funding status to pay for retiree healthcare plans and particularly for the continuation of our live insurance with MetLife.
In 2017, Joe Dombrowski, president of the LRO, and the LRO board requested that Nokia restore funding of the life insurance trust, which was in danger of being insolvent in a few years. Our life insurance coverage is one year’s salary at the time of retirement until age 65. Coverage drops 10% a year until age 70 when it remains at one half of a year’s salary. This coverage is funded by the life insurance trust.
Bill, Joe and Alyson Parker, NRLN Executive Director met with Nokia’s Vice President for Human Resources, Nokia’s lobby firm and members of the American Benefits Council (ABC) in 2018 to discuss a Nokia proposal for changing the pension funding threshold from 125% to 110%, how it could help Nokia afford funding for life insurance and yet assure continued pension benefits for Lucent/Nokia retirees, and how best to make a case Congress might accept.
In December of 2018, the NRLN forwarded its endorsement of changing Section 420 rules to members of congress and met with the Communications Workers of America Washington D.C staff. The CWA agreed to support the proposal and sent a letter of endorsement to Congress.
This Commonsense proposal allows surplus assets above 110% to be used but also contained limits on how much cash could be used and when, and it protected benefits by requiring that should plan funding fall below 110% over a specified period that Nokia would, have to fund up the plan to 110% immediately.
At the February 2019 NRLN Fly-in to Washington, DC, NRLN members lobbied for the Section 420 transfer amendment in Congressional offices. The lobbying on Capitol Hill continued during NRLN Fly-Ins in the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2020. I attended the spring 2020 Fly-in and in appointments on Capitol Hill, explained why the change to Section 420 was especially important to Lucent/Nokia retirees. Bill, Ed Beltram, Bob Martina, and I, as members of the NRLN board were able to keep the Sec 420 proposal a top priority on NRLN’s legislative agenda from 2018-2022.
During COVID, the face-to-face lobbying was replaced with NRLN Action Alerts and Bill and Alyson Parker, NRLN Executive Director, having phone calls with staff members of influential Representatives and Senators and directors of key Congressional Committees. Lucent/Nokia retirees and other NRLN members responded to NRLN Action Alerts to their members of Congress. Those emails from you were particularly important.
Among the letters sent to Capitol Hill on Section 420, one letter was to Washington Senator Patty Murray, Chairwoman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. She and her Committee staff were very influential in getting the NRLN’s proposals into a Senate bill on pensions that were included in the omnibus bill.
We wrote in the last paragraph of the letter: “In striving to become globally competitive, U.S. companies have aggressively reduced or eliminated welfare benefits of retired single-payer defined benefit plan participants. Adopting this nonpartisan pension legislation will help restore the faith of retirees…”
Joe Sciulli, President
Lucent/Nokia Retirees Chapter – NRLN
The LUCENT CHAPTER is working with the NRLN to influence Congress on issues important to us.
Life Insurance Benefit: The LRO has been dealing with Nokia for years to secure additional funding for the underfunded Group Life Insurance Trust (GLI). Recently Nokia announced it plans to transfer $316 million of the excess pension assets to pay for Group Life coverage for eligible Lucent / Nokia retirees. The current pension funding exceeds the current law’s threshold of 120% and thus allows the transfer. The NRLN, Lucent Chapter, and Nokia continue to lobby members of Congress to pass legislation that would make it possible for Nokia (and other companies) with pension plans funded at 110% or more to use surplus funds to sustain benefits.
Pension Recoupment: The NRLN is also advocating its pension recoupment proposal. Recoupment is when a pension plan sponsor finds an error in the pension payment calculation and forces a retiree (some Lucent retirees have experienced this) to pay back thousands of dollars and suffer a cut in his/her pension benefit. The NRLN wants to limit on the number of years that retirees can be exposed to paying back overpayments and the percent that can be taken from their monthly pension checks to repay the pension plan.
Corporate Mergers: We have gone through the corporate mergers with Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia. The NRLN has developed a whitepaper and is lobbying Congress for legislation to protect retirees in corporate mergers, acquisitions and spin-off.
Social Security: Beginning in 2020, Social Security will pay more in benefits than it takes in from taxes and interest. Social Security will deplete its $2.9 trillion reserve fund in 2035. While the program will not go bankrupt due to payroll taxes, benefits would be cut by about one-fourth. To prevent a cut in benefits and fund the program for the next 75 years, the NRLN is supporting passage of Social Security 2100 Act in Congress.
Medicare & Medicare Advantage: Original Medicare’s Hospital Insurance program (Medicare Part A) is pointed toward insolvency by 2026. At that time, Medicare Part A will only have enough funds to pay about 87% of costs. Congress is allowing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize insurance companies for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to serve as a move toward privatization. The NRLN opposes the use of MA plans to privatize Medicare. The NRLN is also advocating that original Medicare participants have access to the special benefits being offered in MA plans. If Medicare is privatized, current MA plan participants should be grandfathered to protect their benefits and subsidies.
Prescription Drug Prices: The NRLN is lobbying to allow Medicare to do competitive bidding for lower prescription drug prices; end pay-for-delay and other brand name drug makers’ tactics that keep generic drugs off the market, and allow importation of safe and less expensive drugs from Canada.
In the article below, Arto Sirvio, Nokia’s director of pensions, tells Carlo Svaluto Moreolo how the communication and information technology company manages a large portfolio of pension plans. Reprinted from January 2018.
In a world where corporate behavior comes under closer scrutiny, the way companies treat current and past employees is critical. Ensuring they are financially secure in retirement is not something that can be overlooked by management boards. But for a company such as Nokia, which has about 100,000 staff and more than 200,000 retired employees, pensions can become a great challenge.
The NRLN New Mexico Chapter was organized under the NRLN’s chapter structure in January 2014. The New Mexico Chapter was originally established to reach out to US West/Qwest/CenturyLink retirees who were members of their retirement organization (TRA/AUSWR-NM), which disbanded.
The NM Chapter also welcomes members from other companies and public entities if they are not already members of an NRLN Association.
All NM Chapter members are advocates belonging to the NRLN Grassroots Organization Network. Some NRLN NM Grassroots’ advocates volunteer to become NM Congressional District Leaders and make local visits to their respective Congressional District Offices and sometimes travel to Washington, D.C. to attend an NRLN “Fly-In”. The purpose of these visits is to educate the members of Congress on the NRLN’s Legislative Agenda (see the Legislative Agenda tab at www.nlrn.org), to make them aware of pendi ng legislation that needs support and provide feedback of their performance (see Grassroots tab on www.nrln.org then click on Congressional Report Cards).
If you believe you are enrolled but are not receiving email from NRLN, check your junk-mail or spam folder and designate email from contact@nrln.org as a “safe sender”. If you find no quarantined email, or if you changed your email address, please send a note to contact@nrln.org to check, revise and confirm your status. You also may have enrolled but failed to check the box to receive emails. If this is the case your enrollment status will be corrected.
Contributions –to NRLN are voluntary but needed and appreciated. CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW
Click Here
We could use other retirees to help us interface with our NM Senators’ and Representatives’ local offices. If they don’t hear from us, they assume we are happy with what they are doing.
We need a voice for all retirees, many who cannot travel to visit their Senators and Representatives. Contact Cassie Kelley at cassiek@comcast.net or Martha Deahl at newmexicochapter@nrln.org. Please help us spread the word about the NRLN and specifically the NM Chapter and the work we are doing to help protect retirees’ interests.
Please discuss the NRLN with all of you friends and encourage them to sign up to receive free emails at www.nrln.org. Remind them that their names, emails and home addresses are on a secure database designed for communicating with them and federal government officials.
Message from Bill Kadereit, NRLN President
Do you know…Beginning in 2020, Social Security will pay more in benefits than it takes in from taxes and interest income? Social Security will deplete its $2.9 trillion reserve fund in 2035. While the program will not go bankrupt due to payroll taxes, projections are benefits would be cut between one-fourth to one-third.
Do you know…Medicare’s Hospital Insurance program (Medicare Part A) is pointed toward insolvency by 2026? At that time, Medicare Part A will only have enough funds to pay about 87% of costs. The Supplementary Medical Insurance (Medicare Part B and Part D) trust fund remains adequately financed throughout the projection period because of beneficiaries’ premiums and general taxpayer revenues.
Do you know…The NRLN and your Chapter are working to get Congress to adopt our proposals to save Social Security and Medicare for the next 75 years?
Do you know…Congress is allowing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize private insurance companies for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to serve as a “Trojan horse” to move toward privatization? The NRLN and your Chapter opposes the use of MA plans to privatize Medicare.
Do you know…An analysis has shown that privatizing Medicare would increase the cost to beneficiaries by 18%? This is not cost improvement. This is cost shifting to seniors and the NRLN opposes it.
Do you know…The NRLN supports legislation to allow Medicare to do competitive bidding>for lower prescription drug prices? We want to end pay-for-delay and other brand name drugmakers’ tactics that obstruct generic drugs from coming to market, and allow importation of safe and less expensive drugs from Canada.
Do you know…Far too often pension plan sponsors find an error in the pension payment calculation and force retirees to pay back thousands of dollars and suffer a large cut in benefits? The NRLN proposes an amendment to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to indemnify individual plan participants from the requirement to refund overpayments by instructing actuaries to account for recoupment as a plan funding risk requiring very small adjustments to plan actuarial calculations.
Do you know…Many employers are selling pension plans to insurance company annuities? The steady decline in traditional defined-benefit pension plans through “de-risking” will continue with 76% of plan sponsors saying they plan to shed their pensions. When “de-risking” occurs with the purchase of an insurance annuity, pension plan participants lose the protection of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the ERISA. The NRLN’s proposed legislation would protect retirees.
Martha Deahl
NRLN Vice President
Desert Southwest Region
AZ/NM/NV and
NRLN Arizona Chapter President
www.nmaging.state.nm.us
Phone: 800-432-2080
Program Name: State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP)
About: The State Health Insurance Assistance Program, or SHIP, is a national program that offers one-on-one counseling and assistance to people with Medicare and their families. Coordinators provide benefits counseling on the Medicare, Medicare prescription drug program, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and Veterans benefits. Information and related Senior Medicare Patrol billing questions and appeals. NM SHIP ensures that older New Mexicans receive accurate, unbiased information about health care options and other entitlements. It does not sell, endorse or recommend any specific insurance or other health plans
Now is the time for your Senators and Representatives to hear your voices! Let them know how you feel about their lack of action when it comes to protecting retirees’ benefits.
The following “Report Card” shows whether New Mexico members of Congress sponsored or cosponsored or voted for bills the NRLN supported in the current 115th Congress. Click here to access the Legislative Directory and then select New Mexico on the USA map to view the NM Congressional delegation webpage on the NRLN website. Then click on the tab NRLN STATE REPORT CARD (EXCEL DOWNLOAD).
From: Martha Deahl, NRLN Vice President Desert Southwest Region, AZ/NM/NV Desertsouthwestregion@NRLN.org
Subject: Change in CenturyLink Concession Service
Changes in CenturyLink Concession Service policy was updated on May 3, 2018 which affects management retirees. The policy states:
“If you are enrolled in concessions prior to May 3, 2018, you may keep your current concessions. However, if you change your services, apply for the new concession program, or move to a new address any time after May 3, 2018, you may not be able to revert to your prior concession offer.”
This change in policy does not apply to non-management retirees since they are covered by Qwest CWA and IBEW Unions Bargaining Agreements.
Thanks, Martha
One of the major roles of the NRLN New Mexico Chapter is to advocate the NRLN legislative agenda for retirees to members of the New Mexico Congressional delegation.
Pension, Social Security and Medicare protection are at the top of the list of things to protect and reducing health care cost, especially the cost of prescription drugs.
We could use other retirees to help us interface with our NM Senators’ and Representatives’ local offices. If they don’t hear from us, they assume we are happy with what they are doing. We need a voice for all retirees, many who cannot travel to visit their Senators and Representatives.
Please help us spread the word about the NRLN and specifically the NM Chapter and the work we are doing to help protect retirees’ interests. Please discuss the NRLN with all of you friends and encourage them to sign up to receive free emails at www.nrln.org. Remind them that their names, emails and home addresses are on a secure database designed for communicating with them and federal government officials.
If you need the address or other personal information of either Senator or your Representative this is how to find it:
Double click any Congressional member for information.
If you need assistance in finding information on www.nrln.org or the NM State Chapter Link please contact:
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