Here was my 2nd appeal letter. Still cant believe they simply waved it off... this was some of my best writing!!!
To the Trustees:
I hereby appeal the decision that I cannot collect my earned pension and continue to work for Batesville Logistics as a Driver, for the following reasons:
A: Pensions are defined as Delayed Wages to be Paid as Defined Benefit Amounts, upon reaching certain ages. I will be 65 in 6 months, and will have earned $2455.10 per month, with 21 years vested credited. Funds are accounts payable to Individuals, and are not an extension of the IBT Union. To collect payment, IBT members must resign from their employer that was under the wage agreement paying to CSPF. They no longer pay dues, they are no longer under a contract. Therefore, Union based Rules cannot be applied to the Fund. The Supreme Court has given the appearance through the Harris vs Quinn (2014) and Janus vs AFSME (2018) Decisions, that (as Alito wrote in Janus) “agency-shop agreements violate the Free Speech Rights of Non-members by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of public concern.”
B: CSPF issues Wage and Earning Statements and withholds taxes when paying these payments. That implies they are under the Equal Opportunity Regulations. Section 623 (section 4) cites that it is unlawful for both Employers and Labor Organizations to limit, segregate, or classify an employee in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment Opportunities. If this case ends up in Court, under Discovery, it would be found that CSPF has allowed some 65 year olds to work, some were denied, some were allowed to work only certain jobs, and some were ordered to retire for a year before returning to work full time. That last part (stop driving for a year, from a good job, and then hope to be hired later at the bottom of an employers seniority) is ludicrous- especially when the Fund has stated there will be no money for payouts within 6 years. I plan to work until age 70 now to maximize Social Security since the Fund will fail. Your Rules defeat me from ever collecting what I have rightfully earned under the Master Freight Contract.
C:The US Treasury Dept denied CSPF’S reallocating payouts under MEPRA, partly because it wasn’t equitable across the board. That fits That Treasury found Discrimination, and goes with the above Rules as a good case for a Discrimination Suit, especially in my home state of Indiana, a Right to Work State.
I do not wish to sue- I wish to beg you to allow my collecting what the National Master Freight Agreement told me I earned. unfortunately, the process only allows me to appeal twice. I am willing to wait until age 65 in 6 months to begin collecting. At that point, the rules DO allow for 65 year olds to continue working and collecting as long as they were out of the Fund’s Rules for a year. I’ve been gone from the NMFA for 10 years now, as Yellow had no job for me with the merger, and I froze my time and moved on to a better job. No one wins in a lawsuit. I would have to sue for $2455.10 times 12 months times 6 years, plus triple damages and court costs. It might turn into a Class Action Suit, and bring the CSPF down, unable to pay Anyone. That is not my desire. All I ask is to be able to collect my earned pension. I could agree to begin in May 2019 at age 65, or now, at the age 64 1/2 rate. It is all of our Best Interests that you agree