Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees (CORRE)

Annual Member Meeting, November 6, 2023

Agenda

• Call to Order and Welcome - Dave Whitehead, President
• Recognition of Guests - Dave Whitehead
• Nominating Committee Report - Paul Wasilko
• Election of 2024 Board of Directors - Dave Whitehead
• Treasurer’s Report - Lester Petrie
• Report to CORRE Membership - Dave Whitehead
• Questions and Comments - Dave Whitehead
• Door Prize Drawing - Shirley Cox
• Adjournment - Dave Whitehead

Recognition of Guests - Dave Whitehead

Questions During the Meeting:

• If on Zoom, use the Chat Box feature to send in your questions during the meeting. At the end, we will read them and respond along with questions from the room.

Nominating Committee Report - Paul Wasilko

Nominating Committee

• Paul Wasilko (Chair)
• Barry Burton
• Cam Hubbard
• George McRae
• Teresa Riggs
• Mike Shelton
• Paul Standifer

Proposed CORRE Officers for 2024

Executive Committee

• President - Dave Whitehead
• Vice-President - Shirley Cox
• Vice-President - Luther Gibson -
• Vice-President - Garry Whitley
• Secretary - Teresa Riggs
• Lester Petrie - Treasurer
• Communications - Sam McSpadden
• Immediate Past-President - Bob Hightower

Proposed CORRE Board Members for 2024

• Tony Angelelli
• Barry Burton
• Tony Chilcoat
• Paul Franco *
• Nick Jessen
• Joe Kato *
• Judy Kibbe
• Ed Lee *
• George McRae
• Debbie Randolph
• Mike Shelton
• Paul Standifer
• Malcolm Stocks
• Paul Wasilko

Members Leaving the Board

Thank You for Your Service!

• Cam Hubbard
• Courtney Manrod
• John Shoemaker

* New for 2024: https://www.mycorre.org/about/board-directors

Election of 2024 Board of Directors - Dave Whitehead

2024 Board of Directors Slate

Executive Committee:

• President - Dave Whitehead
• Vice-President - Shirley Cox
• Vice-President - Luther Gibson -
• Vice-President - Garry Whitley
• Secretary - Teresa Riggs
• Lester Petrie - Treasurer
• Communications - Sam McSpadden
• Immediate Past-President - Bob Hightower

Board Members:

• Tony Angelelli
• Barry Burton
• Tony Chilcoat
• Paul Franco *
• Nick Jessen
• Joe Kato *
• Judy Kibbe
• Ed Lee *
• George McRae
• Debbie Randolph
• Mike Shelton
• Paul Standifer
• Malcolm Stocks
• Paul Wasilko

* New for 2024: https://www.mycorre.org/about/board-directors

Treasurer’s Report - Lester Petrie

Report to CORRE Membership - Dave Whitehead

CORRE concentrated our efforts during the past year in the following areas:

• Held our annual meetings with the four Oak Ridge contractors to discuss topics of retiree interest.
• Reviewed all Pension Plan Annual Funding Notices and discussed them in the contractor meetings.
• Monitored DOE Contractor Solicitations/Contract Awards for retiree benefit content.
• Continued updating the new CORRE web site content: www.mycorre.org
• Updated our Presentation/Information Package delivered to our two Tennessee U. S. House of Representatives (Burchett and Fleischmann) and our two Tennessee U. S. Senators (Blackburn and Hagerty) -- requesting legislative corrective action for Oak Ridge DOE Contractor retirees in the following five areas:
  1. One-Time Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to correct pension payment inflation losses incurred since 1998.
  2. Mandate future year annual pension payment COLAs to be the same each year as received by DOE Federal retirees.
  3. Extend 2% flat rate reduction to obtain the Surviving Spouse Option to all Oak Ridge contractor retirees.
  4. Reinstate lost health care benefits to a small group of “Proforce” retiree spouses.
  5. Provide full funding (100% of liabilities) to DOE’s Oak Ridge contractor retiree pension fund obligation within 5 years.

Our meetings with the DOE contractors centered on the following subjects:

• 50/50 cost split commitment on retiree healthcare insurance premium costs between the contractor and retirees.
• Surviving spouse option cost inequity (10% VS 2%).
• Health care benefit loss for Proforce spouses.
• Pension plan funding status and plans to improve/achieve full funding.
• Update of summary plan descriptions of retiree benefits and posting on contractor websites.
• Improvements to contractor web sites concerning retiree benefit information.
• Data request: number of retirees by zip code (congressional district residence).

Annual Funding Notice Data as of 1/1/2022 (Participants in Pension Plans)

Retirees by Congressional District 1/1/2022

Annual Funding Notice Data as of 1/1/2022 (Net Assets and Liabilities)

However, market values of plan assets declined through the end of 2022 and will result in future lower funding percentages and shortfalls that will have to be made up.

* Assets, liabilities, and funding percentages reported in Annual Funding Notices are based on actuarial values which differ from market values at a point in time.

Background Information

Provided to: Tennessee U. S. Representatives and Tennessee U. S. Senators

Oak Ridge DOE Contractor Retired Workers are Suffering from Lack of Inflation Adjustments to Pension Payments

• According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator, $1.00 in April 1998 now needs to be $1.89 as of Sep 2023.
• Cost of Living Increases in Related Retirement Plans as of January 2024
• 90.6% for Federal Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)
• 71.6% for Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)
• For Reference, Cost of Living Increases for Oak Ridge DOE Contractor Retirement Plans Since 1998 is 0.0%.
• This difference between retired Federal and Contractor worker cost of living increases is not just and does not honor the service of Contractor retirees to the nation.

Relevant Historical Inflation & COLAs, 1998 – 2024

Increase in Price of Items (Age 62 & Over Buy), April 1998 – Sep 2023

Recent Oak Ridge Contractor Pension Plan Funding History

DOE Retired Workers Have Major Impact on Local Economies

Oak Ridge Contractor Retired Worker pension disbursement benefits local economies.

FY2020 Economic Impact in Tennessee:

• $294,488,293 direct
• $110,492,008 indirect & multiplier effect
• $404,980,301 Direct + Indirect Total
• 2,739 jobs created

Source: East Tennessee Economic Council & Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, U.S. Department of Energy FY 2020 Economic Impact in Tennessee Report.

In Conclusion:

CORRE continues to advocate for retiree benefits:

• Working with DOE/NNSA and their Oak Ridge Contractors to protect our basic member benefits – pension payments and supplemental health insurance coverage.
• Requesting correction of any inequities and injustices within the Oak Ridge retiree benefit programs.
• Maintaining communication with other retiree organizations within the DOE Complex to look for opportunities to collaborate.
• Working with our congressional delegation to provide DOE with adequate funding and Legislative Branch support for retiree needs.

You can help in this effort too by individually contacting your representatives. They do listen to their constituents.

Questions and Comments

• Today: Zoom Chat Box
• Going Forward: https://www.mycorre.org/contact

Door Prize Drawing

Three $50 Cash Awards

Adjournment

Thanks for your attendance.