Support the showContact: [email protected] www.multiemployerfunds.com

This is the final part of my conversation with Josh Meyer and Jennifer Schuster from Segal Benz Communication. We are rejoining the conversation as we pivot our discussion to health care communication. In this episode, we will discuss how multi-employer plans are using customized communication to simplify navigating health care coverage for participants.  Support the showContact: [email protected] www.multiemployerfunds.com

In Part 2 of the conversation with Jennifer Schuster and Josh Meyer from Segal Benz Communications, we discuss how Segal aggregates information and financial tools then delivers access to multiemployer plan participants. Knowing you have financial planning tools is the first step on anyone's path to financial well-being.  Support the showContact: [email protected] www.multiemployerfunds.com

Most Americans are under-prepared for retirement. Many studies point to a potential retirement crisis. The most sophisticated models imply that anywhere from 25 to 50% of US households, preparing for retirement will end up short of the savings needed. According to the National Library of Medicine, 40% of personal bankruptcies are because of excessive bills. Financial well-being is more than just about our ability to pay our bills or retire with dignity. Financial well-being impacts every area...

In today’s episode of the ‘The World of Multiemployer Benefit Funds’ (Where experts share their insights and stories on busting myths about the labor movement)host Traci Dority-Shanklin (Managing Partner at Sisu Partners) talks with David Blumenstein, President, and CEO of Segal. They talk about the distinctive structure of multi-employer benefit funds and their essential contribution to the lives of thousands of working men and women. RESOURCES: In the part 1 of my conversation with David,...

David Blumenstein, President and CEO of Segal, shares how multiemployer benefit funds provide peace of mind for participants. Listen to part one of our conversation at  https://www.multiemployerfunds.com/   #multiemployerfunds, #benefitplans, #solutionsprovider, #ARPA Support the show

In today’s episode of the ‘The World of Multiemployer Benefit Funds’ (Where experts share their insights and stories on busting myths about the labor movement). Today the host Traci Dority-Shanklin (Managing Partner at Sisu Partners) talks with David Blumenstein (President, and CEO of Segal. Segal provides various consulting services including actuarial health benefits, human resources, investment, fiduciary insurance, communication, and technology.) David Blumenstein is a frequent speaker at...

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White-collar organizing sweeps the Tech and Game Industry! Learn how the Communication Workers of America (CWA) is converting non-traditional industries like college campuses, newspapers, and the Tech and Game Industry into union shops. CWA District 3 organizing coordinator and grassroots activist, Cassie Watters, gives us the skinny on what motivates these white-collar workers to organize and how the CWA supports these digital employees.   Some highlights from CWA Organizing: White-Collar...

White-collar workers are organizing labor unions at Tech & Game, nonprofits, college campuses, and now comic book workers. CWA District 3 organizing coordinator and grassroots activist, Cassie Watters, explains why these workers are turning to the Communications Workers of America to help them organize and how the CWA is supporting them. Some highlights from CWA Organizing: Tech and Game Workers:  04:10 – Campus Workers Strike Back 10:32 – CWA and Jobs with Justice 13:03 – The Importance...

Low pay, no opportunity for advancement, and feeling disrespected topped the list of reasons why millions of workers quit their jobs in 2021. With union organizing in Big Tech, Starbucks, and Amazon and labor unions enjoying high popularity with workers across the country, could this be the beginning of a new labor movement? Arelia Valdivia and Francisco Diez from the Center for Popular Democracy are here to share some insight into the Great Resignation and what is driving worker unrest. Some...

Lockdowns and the coronavirus pandemic laid bare our inept and patchwork unemployment system. Iceland supported its citizens with 30 months of unemployment benefits while US workers barely received six months of benefits. Arelia Valdivia and Francisco Diez are here from the Center for Popular Democracy to explain why our current UI system desperately needs reform and how all workers, both employed and unemployed, can help fix it. Some highlights from The CPD’s Case for Unemployment Insurance...

Traditional defined benefit plans provide retirees with a guaranteed lifetime pension. However, workers participating in these DB plans have fallen from 38% to 20% between 1980 and 2008. Steve McCourt, the co-CEO and Managing Principal at Meketa Investment Group, shares some insight into the Great Resignation and the shifting demographics in the workforce. Some highlights from Defined Benefit Plans and the Case of the Disappearing Demographics: 02:29 – The Fuzzy Math Problem 06:42 – Could We...

Two years ago, Steve McCourt, the Managing Partner and co-CEO of Meketa Investment Group shared his thoughts on the pandemic’s impact on pension funds. However, it was too early in the pandemic, so there were too many unknowns. Steve returns with an update on how the market, trustees, pension funds, and technology have all responded to the disruption. Some highlights from The Pandemic’s Impact on Pension Funds Revisited: 01:36 – In Our Previous Conversation… 03:38 – The Bull Market Charges...

UNICEF reported that 1 in 7 children have been negatively impacted by the pandemic lockdowns. And more than 1.6 billion children have suffered from some loss of education. The co-founders of Virtual Milestones Academy, Megan Cawlfield, a pediatric speech-language pathologist, and Emily Roberts, an occupational therapist, expose the cracks in our disjointed healthcare system and support parents with finding holistic, family-centered solutions.  Some highlights from Lockdowns, Social Isolation...

Host, Traci Dority-Shanklin, recaps her 2021 discussions about pension reform and hybrid retirement solutions for failing multiemployer plans. With the help of several guests from previous podcasts, Traci highlights potential solutions and recounts events that drove these plans to the breaking point. Past guests include AFL-CIO president, Liz Shuler; UFCW Local 21 president, Faye Guenther; Executive Director of NIRS, Dan Doonan; Executive Director of NCCMP, Michael Scott; labor organizer and...

Imagine taking office as president of the nation’s largest UFCW local at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Suddenly, healthcare and grocery store workers are declared essential frontline workers, but essential workers should have enough money to buy food, have a roof over their heads, and lead lives that are essential. UFCW Local 21 president, Faye Guenther, talks about how coronavirus upended the playing field and contract negotiations but ushered in beautiful acts of solidarity...

The UFCW Local 21 set an ambitious goal of identifying, recruiting, and training 4500 of the next generation of labor leaders over the next two years. How is that effort going? Luckily, Faye Guenther, the president of UFCW Local 21, is here to give an update and share how laughter helped bring her diverse team together. Some highlights from the 4500: Identifying and Recruiting the Next Generation of Labor Leaders include: 01:17 – Rethinking the Idea of Team 06:17 – Diversity and Inclusion at...

If your union or employer’s defined benefit plan was in critical and declining condition and facing insolvency, would you consider a hybrid retirement solution to fix it? That’s exactly how the UFCW Local 21 turned their red-zone plan back to green. UFCW Local 21 president, Faye Guenther, shares the bold steps taken by her UFCW family when they switched from their legacy plan to a variable annuity pension plan (VAPP). Some highlights from UFCW Local 21 and the Saga of the Variable Annuity...

A hybrid retirement plan combines parts of a defined benefit plan with parts of a defined contribution plan. Dan Doonan, the Executive Director of the National Institute on Retirement Security, and Elizabeth Wiley, a consulting actuary at Cheiron, wrote the book on hybrid plans – literally! Dan and Elizabeth penned The Hybrid Handbook, a white paper on hybrid retirement plans in the public sector. Listen as they share their insights on these plans along with some of their favorite case...

Hybrid retirement plans are becoming a viable option to the traditional defined benefit and defined contribution plans, but what are they? And who are they right for? Dan Doonan, the Executive Director of the National Institute on Retirement Security, and Elizabeth Wiley, a Cheiron consulting actuary, co-authored The Hybrid Handbook, where they outline various public hybrid retirement plan structures. Dan and Elizabeth demystify these plans and explain why some struggling multiemployer plans...

Uniontrack’s Engage app combines union dues payment software, union membership communication software, and grievance tracking software into a web-based system. Uniontrack created the union-friendly app, and their CEO, Ken Green, explains how the Engage app solves workflow issues for unions and empowers the next generation of union members through technology. Some highlights from Uniontrack’s Engage: The Union-Friendly App include: 03:35 – Solving Union Workflow Issues 09:17 – Unifying Union...