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Union fights for higher education equity State bill would improve retirement options
Feb. 2, 2006 From left, Steve London, PSC; William Scheuerman, UUP; Ellen Schuler Mauk, Faculty Association of Suffolk CC; and Alan Lubin, NYSUT. For higher ed faculty, who may begin teaching part-time or work for several institutions through their careers, flexibility in retirement planning is key. New York State United Teachers is lobbying for legislation that would create more equity between the two retirement planning options currently offered to SUNY, CUNY and community college faculty. For their retirement planning, faculty members at SUNY, CUNY and locally run community colleges must choose between becoming part of the New York City or state Teachers' Retirement System or Employees' Retirement System — which are defined-benefit pension plans — or the state's Optional Retirement Plan, a defined-contribution plan that operates like a 401(k). Because of gains realized by the TRS and ERS systems during the bull-market 1990s, legislation was enacted that requires faculty to contribute 3 percent of salary into the pension systems for the first 10 years of employment, and nothing thereafter. Under ORP, faculty members must contribute 3 percent of their salary for as long as they are enrolled in the program, and SUNY, CUNY or the community college will kick in a percentage of the employee's salary as well. As tempting as a defined-benefit pension may be, the downside is that it's not portable, meaning it's simply not an option for many faculty whose careers move from college to college. "The ORP plan initially was created with input from college faculty members, who said very clearly that portability was important to them," said William Scheuerman, president of United University Professions, which represents academic and professional faculty at State University of New York campuses. Part-time professors may wonder why they should put money into the TRS/ERS systems when they may never have the opportunity to become vested. Hired away "We have a very high cost of living and the salaries are not always competitive," said Cecilia McCall, secretary-treasurer of the Professional Staff Congress at the City University of New York. "Our younger members get hired away." PSC is NYSUT's affiliate at CUNY. Scheuerman said about eight out of 10 UUP members opt for ORP over TRS/ERS. That's a sea change from what NYSUT Board member Ellen Schuler Mauk was seeing when she joined Suffolk Community College some 30 years ago. "At least three-quarters of our members are in ORP," said Schuler Mauk, president of the Faculty Association at SCC. "When I first came to the college in the 1970s, two-thirds of the faculty were in (pension plans)." The ORP options include TIAA-CREF, the huge national retirement investment plan used by private and public faculty. But what about the faculty members who make a career commitment to New York 's colleges? Professors who spend 20 years teaching at SUNY, for example, will contribute twice as much to their ORP retirement plans as colleagues who opt for TRS/ERS. "If we're going to continue to attract top faculty to our public colleges, there have to be equitable retirement options," Scheuerman said. "Issues like funding cuts already hurt recruiting. If we can at least offer equitable benefits, we're taking a step in the right direction." NYSUT is lobbying for a state bill to correct the disparity in faculty contributions to the TRS/ERS and ORP systems. Sen. Joe Robach, R-Rochester, who chairs the Civil Service and Pensions Committee, is sponsoring a bill that would let SUNY, CUNY and community college faculty cease contributing 3 percent to the ORP plan after 10 years of service — the same option given to faculty members enrolled in TRS/ERS. The Assembly version is sponsored by Assemblyman Peter Abbate Jr., D-Brooklyn. McCall remains hopeful. "The Assembly and Senate members have not been discouraging," she said. "They believe this will get done." NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin said getting the bills passed and signed remains a top priority. He urged higher ed members to contribute to VOTE-COPE, NYSUT's voluntary political action fund, to help fuel the fight for retirement equity for faculty at public colleges. "Correcting the inequity between the TRS/ERS and ORP plans will reward faculty members who have dedicated their careers to public education," Lubin said, while also creating "fair and balanced benefit options" as a boon to recruitment. — Kevin Hart |
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