As construction spending rises and construction unemployment drops, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades has the best opportunity to organize new members in years. If you’re a retiree, those positive numbers don’t mean as much as they used to when you were on the job – but they should. Your pension benefit is directly tied to the success of the IUPAT in organizing if you are planning on enjoying a long retirement under the plan.
The pension model is a simple one: participants pay a portion of their hourly earnings into their pension fund until they become eligible to collect that benefit, and then live the retirement they worked so hard for thanks to a regular monthly check from that pension plan.
However, in order for this model to be successful, we must continue to grow our union. To be more specific, we must increase the amount of participants contributing to the pension plan. Each worker in the field today supports the financial security of our retirees. We need that steady inflow of new members to keep the plan fiscally sound as current members retire.
A pension plan grows stronger when the benefits of a retiree are funded by a group of contributing workers on the job. This is how organizing fuels a pension plan; we put more in each month than we take out.
If we cease to organize new members, then the growth stops and that puts the pensions of future retirees in jeopardy. The IUPAT is undertaking some bold moves to organize new members and the experience, expertise and proven dedication of our retirees is greatly needed for our success. Join us at a district council or local union meeting to find out more about your local organizing initiatives.