Don't believe CCHMC's Propaganda. You're getting screwed.

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CCHMC wants you to believe that with stock market growth, you can end up with much more!!  

However, they want you to forget that they used to pay in 15% of your income into your pension.  Now, for anyone who has joined CCHMC since 2015, they're putting only 5% into your account.  So for you to end up in the same spot, you've got to TRIPLE your investment--meaning you need a 300% return just to get back to what you would have gotten under the pension plan.  Are you good at picking stocks that go up 300%?  Because that's the return you will need just to get to what you would have gotten under the old pension plan.  If CCHMC was honest, they'd say:  "You just took a 10% cut to your compensation, but if you pick out a unicorn stock that goes up 301%, you're better off than the pension plan!  If not, then you're worse off."

If you're now only getting 6% because you've worked at CCHMC for 10-14 years (which is a 9% reduction from what you used to get, and thus a 9% cut to your compensation) you  need to pick stocks or funds that return 250% just to get to where you were under the pension plan.  Remember, Bernie Madoff got some of the wealthiest Americans to invest with him because he promised 10-12% returns.  But CCHMC is confident in your ability to get 250% returns. 

If you've worked at CCHMC for 15-20 years, you have taken an 8% compensation cut.  It also means that you're closer to retirement and will have less time for CCHMC's  7% contribution to grow.  In fact, you will need a 214% return on your investment, just to get back to where you would have been under the pension plan. 

CCHMC's propaganda emphasizes how YOU now get to pick your investments.  However, you have always had a 403(b) option where you could contribute up to $23,000 annually into a tax deferred account.  In your 403(b), you have had the CHOICE of picking from 26 different mutual funds and index funds, making virtually every conceivable investment strategy possible.   You have always had this choice.  For CCHMC to act like this is something new and great for you means they're desperately trying to convince you to ignore the MASSIVE cut you just took to your overall compensation.  

CCHMC's propaganda states that their 6% contribution can exceed what you were earning under the pension plan, whereby they were contributing 15%.  If you get a 251% return in the stock market, yes, their 6% contribution will exceed what you were previously getting.  But, if you get a return of anything less than 251%, you've lost money.  How confident are you that you're going to get a 251% return in the market?    

With a pension, your retirement income was guaranteed.  If you retired when the stock market was significantly down, such as in the heart of the Great Recession or at the outset of Covid, your pension amount was not affected.  Now, you've got to hope that you see incredible returns out of the stock market for the rest of your working life, and that when you do retire, it's not at a time when the stock market is down.  The security you would have had with the pension is now long gone.

You have always had the option to contribute to a 403(b) plan, which was $23,000 in 2024.  On top of that, CCHMC was contributing 15% of your pay towards your pension.  So, if you maxed out your 403(b) at $23,000, and CCHMC was paying 15% of your pay towards the pension, you were cruising towards retirement with a diversified portfolio.  

If you make $100,000 annually, CCHMC would have contributed $15,000 towards your pension each and every year.  Now, you'll get $5,000 if you've worked there less than 10 years, $6,000 if you've worked there 10-15 years, or $7,000 if you've worked there 15-20 years.  

If you maxed out your 403(b), you were saving $23,000 on your own, and CCHMC was contributing $15,000 towards your pension, for a grand total of $38,000 going towards your retirement.

Under the new CCC paradigm, you can still contribute $23,000 to your 403(b), but they'll contribute $6,000 towards your retirement, for a grand total of $29,000.  

This significantly reduces the amount you're able to save every year towards retirement, all thanks to the #1 Children's Hospital in the USA reducing their contribution towards your retirement by $9,000.   

Under the new plan, not a single employee will be getting a 15% contribution the way they were under the pension plan.   The only reason to cut their contribution from 15% down to 5% for all employees hired after 2015, and down to 6% for employees hired between 2009-2014, and down to 7% for all employees hired between 2005-2009 is to SAVE money.  

CCHMC has $7.4 Billion in assets as of 2023, which is up from $6.8 Billion in 2022.  This is an organization that cares about expansion, new construction, executive pay, and squeezing every dollar they can out of their employees.  Getting rid of our pension furthers their mission.

According to the propaganda CCHMC is putting out, they want you to believe that the new system costs the same as the pension plan.  Here's a simple solution:  If the cost is the same, give us our pension plan back.  

One of the most absurd talking points out of CCHMC is that eliminating the pension will help with retention of employees.  That is patently false.  The pension plan kept longtime employees from looking elsewhere because it was a tremendous benefit.  In fact, CCHMC used to brag about the pension as a recruitment tool.  Here is a video from the CCHMC HR Department bragging about the pension.  

Now, anyone who may have stuck around CCHMC, possibly at a lower wage, will be applying elsewhere.  The talent that took CCHMC to be the #1 Children's Hospital in the USA will be walking out the door because the pension is no longer there to keep us here.  The best nurses, RT's, PTs, Nurse Practitioners, and countless others will be looking at positions around the country that pay higher wages, better benefits, and pensions.  Turnover will increase significantly.

CCHMC Management is terrified of us unionizing.  They know that with a collective voice, we can demand higher wages, a pension, free parking, less expensive health insurance co-pays, and raises.  Why does the #1 Children's Hospital in the USA pay below-market wages?  Why do 10,000+ employees have to pay to park at work?  Why does a $7.4 Billion dollar hospital network nickel and dime its employees, while ripping their pension away despite being financially sound?  

Every time you drive by a CCHMC billboard bragging about being #1, think about the years you've spent helping achieve that ranking.  Then think about how CCHMC has treated you by ripping your pension away.

Enough is enough.  It is time for us to unionize.  Collectively, we have a voice.  We can demand the pension be restored.  We can demand the wages we deserve, the raises we deserve, and the benefits we deserve.  We can demand higher standards for patient care, not reckless expansion without proper resources in place.  

Join us in our fight.