The assets of our Local 804 Pension Fund continued to fall in the Third Quarter. The Fund lost more than $105 million in assets in the first three quarters of 2008, including more than $46 million in the Third Quarter alone.

Our Pension Fund recently sent every member an Annual Funding Notice, but that notice painted a misleading picture. The notice stated that the fund’s assets were $704.4 million. But this is the figure as of January 1, 2007. That’s two years ago!

By the time the Fund trustees issued the Funding Notice, the fund’s assets were $631.5 million-and falling. That’s compared to $736.9 million in assets at the beginning of 2008.

These figures come from the most recent financial documents available from the Fund itself: a report for the Third Quarter issued to the Pension Fund trustees on December 1. These reports were obtained from the Fund by Local 804 Members United members Tim Sylvester and Bill Reynolds.

Obviously, the Fund Trustees are not to blame for all of these losses or the fact that the the stock market has been in the tank. (However, it is true that having 62 percent of the fund’s assets invested in stock exposed us to more risk than most other Teamster pension funds, maybe not such a great move given how volatile the stock market has been.)

We also don’t blame the Pension Fund for mailing out the misleading Annual Funding notice. That notice and its contents are dictated by law. But there’s no reason that the Local 804 Executive Board couldn’t also give members the up-to-date and accurate pension numbers.

The bottom line is this is the members’ money. Local 804 members have a right to know the straight story. Why is it so hard to get it from this Executive Board?

Click here to see a document that shows the value of the Pension Fund’s assets as of Sept. 30, 2008 (the end of the Third Quarter).

Click here to see a Pension Fund document that shows the market value of the Pension Fund’s assets on Jan. 1, 2008.

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