For those members of our Division with U.S. hours of
service the following documentation dated 1999 has been
brought to our attention. This situation of little or
no information on behalf of CP Pension Services in
regard to International Employee's is currently being
addressed through the TCRC National Office. Please
contact S/T Nick Dionne or myself in if you have any
concerns or questions.
Fraternally
John Zrini
President
TCRC Division 528
The RRB
is a US agency that administers retirement benefits to
railroad workers who work in, or into, the United
States. Division 528 employees who operate trains
to the US at anytime in their career are subject to RRB deductions
by US law.
These deductions will appear
on your pay-stub under the following headings:
RRB Tier 1
RRB Tier 1 Health
RRB Tier 2
First
and foremost it must be understood that the RRB Pension
is non-refundable and non-transferable. If you are not
vested in the RRB pension plan after retirement, death
or disability, your contributions are banked into a
interest account where proceeds are shared among the
American Association of Railroads.
US
Federal Law dictates that any Railroad employee working
into the United States must contribute a percentage of
earnings to the RRB which is a arm of the US Social
Security Program. The Canadian employers
operating trains into the US are bound by the same law
and must make these deduction accordingly.
In
order to qualify to be vested in the RRB Plan, one of
two criteria must be met. A Canadian railroad employee
working into the United States prior to December 31 2000
became vested in the plan when 120 months of
contributions were realized. Changes to the act
implemented by President Bush on said date now allow
railroad employees to be vested with 60 months of
accredited contributions commencing December 31, 2000.
Upon
becoming vested in the plan, eligible CP Rail RTE's are
entitled to a retirement pension at age 60 which is
subject to the "Double Stacking of Railroad Pension's
Provision" included in the CP Rail Pension Services
Plan. This means CP will reduce the Canadian
Portion of your pension based on the benefits you
receive from the RRB. For example, if your monthly
pension is $3000 per month, and your RRB entitlement is
$300 per month, CP will only pay you $2700 and expect
you to collect the balance from the RRB. For this
reason it is important to contact the RRB and become
vested in their plan.
The
Clinton Government discontinued issuance of US Social
Security Numbers to Canadian railroaders in 1994 and the
RRB now implements a generic ID number using the
numerals 999 and the CP Rail Employee number to
track contributions.
Here is the local
offices which provide information for 528 members:
Buffalo Office RRB
186 Exchange Street, Suite 110 Buffalo, NY 14204-2026
Hours -
9:00 AM thru 3:30 PM Monday thru Friday except US
Holidays
Phone:
(716) 551-4141 FAX: (716) 551-3802
Link to
secure message site to contact office via internet
here
Detroit Office RRB
McNamara Federal Building 477 West Michigan Avenue, Suite 1199 Detroit, MI 48226-2596
Hours - 9:00 AM thru 3:30 PM Monday thru Friday except
US Holidays
Phone: (313) 226-6221 FAX: (313) 226-4233
Link to secure message
site to contact office via internet
here
Please use the above provided links to get the ball
rolling. Here are some links to on-line
resources to get you started as well:
Sep 6, 2010
