Your Plan beneficiary receives an amount equal to 48 times the monthly life only pension you would receive if you retired the day before your death. If you are not eligible to retire, your Plan calculates this benefit as if you were age 55. The benefit is payable in a lump sum.

Does your spouse get your pension after you die?

The federal pension law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), requires private pension plans to provide benefits to surviving spouses. If your spouse died before this date, the spouse may have chosen a benefit that would be paid only while he or she was alive, and there would be no survivor benefit.

When can you collect a Teamster pension?

You can choose to have your early retirement benefit start on the first of any month after you first become eligible for early retirement (usually age 55). However, your pension cannot begin until you stop all work for covered employers and former covered employers, including non-covered employment.

How to find out my Teamster Union retirement benefits?

Talk to your shop steward. If you don’t know who that is, ask your co-workers. Attend your local union meetings. Ask your shop steward or look at your local website for details. Talk to the benefits manager at your local union office for account balances and other details about your personal situation.

Who are the members of the Teamster Union?

It represents 10 percent of all American union members, as of 2010. Teamsters’ work falls into 21 divisions, including airlines, bakeries, construction companies, food processors, and theatrical companies. The union’s structure enables the local chapters to maintain the bulk of the power.

What are the benefits of being a teamster?

This program consists of several different benefits for Teamster retirees. These Teamster benefits can help you and your family cut the rising cost of health care.

When do you become eligible for a Teamster pension?

In order to be eligible for any type of Pension Benefit, you must have a vested pension. To be vested, you must have at least five (5) years of Vesting Service provided you were in Covered Employment after January 1, 1999 or ten (10) years if you terminated participation in the Plan prior to January 1, 1999.