Last year, Southwest Airlines pilots approved a new contract under which pilots earned a substantial pay increase: a 50 percent salary increase over the life of the five year contract. The airline’s 11,000 pilots reportedly were negotiating not just for better pay, but also for improved retirement benefits and disability insurance along with a revised scheduling process.
Little did we know that the pilots were successful in improving their retirement benefits by negotiating a key new benefit that includes life income: a cash balance pension plan.
In 2025, will more employers look at strengthening their retirement benefits and offering pensions? Read more in Dan Doonan’s latest Forbes column.
Statement on Efforts in Alaska to Restore Pension Benefits to Address Grave Workforce Shortage
Alaska’s effort to restore a pension plan for public workers represents meaningful progress in addressing one of the state’s most pressing challenges: attracting and retaining a stable, experienced public workforce. While Governor Dunleavy has vetoed the legislation, the fact that the measure passed both the House and Senate demonstrates a growing recognition that retirement benefits are not just about retirement security — they also are an essential workforce management tool.
Pensions Are A Vital Workforce Tool For Retaining Public Safety Professionals
In a Forbes column, NIRS Executive Director Dan Doonan writes about role of pensions in recruiting and retaining public safety professionals. He writes that some jobs become increasingly taxing as one ages. Airline pilots and air traffic controllers, for example, are subject to mandatory retirement ages. While not subject to mandatory retirement ages, many police […]
New Research Examines the Role of Pensions in Sustaining a Robust Public Safety Workforce
As state and local governments across the nation continue to struggle filling public safety positions, new research from the National Institute on Retirement Security explores how defined benefit pension plans are a critical workforce management tool for public safety employers.
Last year, 
