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Local 591 Administrative Executive Board Member Russ Dittmer
February 2023 Activities
Quick synopsis:
Scheduled meetings, teleconferences & calls include:
Weekly Executive Board teleconference, Monthly EAP/MAP Coordinator call, Bi-weekly ASAP/Safety Call, Friday President’s Call, Monthly Executive Board Meeting, Line Mtc & GSE Process Standards Meeting, Present at TOLS on behalf of Local 591
Projects:
Assisting Pres. Schaible with campaigns and legislative efforts, Tracking JCBA questions/answers/future suggestions, Grievance tracking and management system updates and improvements, Tracking Art 33.B Presidential grievances & evidence, Podcasts prep and recording, Website refresh and update project improvements
Details:
February started out like most other months for me, with planning to travel, responding to contract questions, reviewing documents provided by the company, etc. I attended the TWU International Executive Committee (IEC), and spent a good deal of time working to resolve a number of issues. Unfortunately, while flying back from that meeting, I received the message that a member of my wife’s family had passed away. As you can imagine, the middle of the month is a bit of a blur for me, due to a family member passing away, taking bereavement time, and assisting my wife’s family with both emotional grief as well as the myriad of issues and details which seem to always need resolving when someone we love passes away.
I want to take the time to focus on a topic few of us are actually comfortable thinking about, let alone talking about – death. The emotional grief is obvious, and the closer we are to someone, the more difficult that process of grieving and internally saying farewell often is. That said, as our Local 591 EAP & Benefit Coordinators Tony Lepore and Ken Morse have talked about in past videos everyone grieves differently, and everyone grieves on their own timeline. Add to that, the grieving process is often different each time we lose someone as well. If you find yourself in a place where you don’t know what to do, you feel like you are sinking, or simply struggling to cope with the stress and challenges of life, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Local 591 EAP Representatives in your station, or call one of our Coordinators or Peer Coordinators directly. These are experienced Members who have amazing resources they can recommend for helping not only you, but also your families to get the assistance you or they might need or want to help navigate the challenges of life.
While I’m not trying to take away from the emotional side of this tough topic, I want to also focus on the more practical needs of preparing for these events. Let’s face it, whether or not we are ready to accept it or realize it, death doesn’t forget anyone.
Our Local 591 EAP/Benefits Coordinators have assembled a fairly simple checklist of things you should have compiled to make the process as functionally easy for your loved ones as is possible. Yes, the checklist is five pages, but think about how complicated many of our lives are, just with all of the passwords we must remember alone. Our Local 591 Coordinators have also compiled a document which provides you the basic process of preparing for your own death.
Yes, this is tough stuff. One thing I hear very often from aging friends, family, and coworkers is that they don’t want to be a burden to their children while they are still alive. While that is a noble sentiment, far too many just don’t realize the heavy burden they place on those same loved ones when they haven’t properly prepared for their own passing. Add to that, it is actually even more critical to properly prepare for this if you are younger, because you may not have had those so important discussions yet, and your loved ones may not even know what your wishes actually are/were, often causing them unnecessary stress, trauma, and guilt.
The number of details can seem to be overwhelming. That is why our EAP/Benefits Coordinators have assembled checklists and simplified explanations of what is needed. That is also why, if you need assistance or guidance, you can reach out to our Local 591 team of EAP and Benefits representatives to help. Obviously, those EAP/Benefits representatives cannot write your will for example (that is usually best done with the assistance of an attorney), but they can help guide you to have as much information as possible prepared to make sure so that when you have the will drafted that it covers everything you want and need it to.
This one item is for those of us who were working for AA and were vested in the pension plan back then, before the pension plans were frozen in bankruptcy. There is another important document for you to remember, the QPSA. The Enhanced Qualified Pre-Retirement Spousal Annuity (QPSA) directs how your pension is paid to your spouse in the event you pass away while still working for the company. Unfortunately, the default disbursement amount that would go to your spouse in the event you pass away while still working for the company is only 50% of your pension. That said, you can change that pension disbursement to your spouse from the default minimum of 50%, to either 75% or all the way up to 100%, and there is no penalty for increasing from that 50% minimum disbursement. The QPSA is explained in greater detail here. You can access the form, after logging into the Fidelity website by going to the pension forms section, or clicking here. After you fill out and sign the QPSA form, before you mail it to Fidelity (still no electronic option yet), make and keep a copy with your other important papers.
I have mentioned this before, but I’ll mention it again here, because it really is that important. Please also ensure that all of your ‘important documents’ are stored in a safe location. In addition, please ensure that your loved ones know where those documents actually are stored, and if they are in a safe or some other secured location, provide them the instructions on how they can open and/or access those documents. Not doing this is another major source of stress for loved ones who are trying to find all of those necessary documents during this already emotion-filled and stress-filled time in their lives.
My wife and I are very fortunate that my in-laws had thoroughly prepared for this event, from having their wills drafted and properly executed, having many of the details on their burial clearly stated, pre-paying for the direct funeral costs, providing lists of and locations of all necessary passwords, identification, and legal documents, etc. Having been so prepared gave the whole family the ability to focus more on each other and on the other immediate decisions without being even more overwhelmed.
As I commented earlier, death doesn’t forget anyone, but my continual desire to learn has me studying towards my Associates Degree in Paralegal via the free AFL-CIO Union Plus program. Surprisingly, the specific course I am taking as I write this is on Estate Planning. To say that I was surprised by the complexity and detail that goes into drafting even the simplest will, living will, trust, living trust, and the many other necessary documents is a vast understatement. That doesn’t mean preparing a plan is impossible, it just means you need to assemble all of the information about your wants and wishes before you get started with a professional. The good news, Local 591 has an amazing team of EAP and Benefits Representatives who are ready and willing to assist you in any way they can.
Fraternally
Russ Dittmer
Local 591 Administrative E-Board Member
russ.dittmer@local591.com
P.s. If you are interested in or have questions about you or your family using the Union AFL-CIO free college education benefit, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at the above e-mail address.
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