Retirement income will increase by 10 percent January 1 for active AMO members who had earned benefits from the AMO Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Plan before the Plan was suspended as deficient under federal law in December 2009.

An AMO member is considered "active" in this specific context if he or she is at work or registered to work under AMO contract and is due a monthly benefit from the AMO DB Pension Plan upon retirement.

The joint union-employer trustees of the AMO DB Pension Plan approved this increase in earned monthly benefits during their quarterly meeting October 10 at AMO headquarters in Dania Beach, Florida.

This increase will ease one difficulty endured by working AMO members since that point nearly 10 years ago when the AMO DB Pension Plan became underfunded as defined by the Pension Protection Act of 2006.

This law established three funding level designations for troubled defined benefit pension plans nationwide - "red zone" for endangered plans, "yellow zone" for plans in critical status and "green zone" for plans able to meet their obligations to vested participants.

At the close of the AMO DB Pension Plan's fiscal year on September 30, 2018, the Plan's actuarial consultants reported that the AMO DB Pension Plan had entered the "green zone" at a funding level of at least 82 percent. The Plan's "green zone" status provided the first practical opportunity to enhance retirement security for AMO members working in the deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters fleets.

Current actuarial assumptions put the AMO DB Pension Plan on track to full funding by 2022.

This increase in monthly benefits will not impair the AMO DB Pension Plan's ability to meet its obligations to current AMO retirees or their survivors where applicable. Nor will it compromise the AMO DB Pension Plan's commitment to "vested inactive" participants - individuals who no longer work under AMO contract but who are due benefits at age 65.

Meanwhile, proposals to revise the AMO Defined Contribution (DC) Plan's benefit calculation formula remain under consideration by this Plan's joint union-employer trustees, who are weighing four options under which participant age would no longer be a factor - benefits would be based exclusively on years of service in AMO covered employment.

The outcome of trustee deliberations on AMO DC Plan reform will be reported immediately to all AMO members.

Paul Doell
National President