We recognize the BIC Pension plan is a generous plan. For many of us the decision to stay with BIC in recent years was largely due to the pension plan. Our life plans were based on counting on the plan being there for us, as we were promised when we began employment with BIC. In the plan guidelines those of us under 55 suffer the most because of the penalty imposed because we will not have reached our 55th birthday before the sale of the Graphic division. The Human Resources group will point out that you can “make it up” by delaying benefits until 65. In the best case, it takes delaying drawing the pension by three years – so 36 months of benefits is lost. That isn’t making it up.
In addition to the under 55 penalty on the pension, most of us lost the retiree medical insurance benefit 5 years ago. We were either under 50 or had less than 15 years of service at that time. We were given a small reimbursement for that did not come close to what the benefit was worth to us.
We are also now finding out that we will lose retiree life insurance because we will not be 55 when our employment ends.
We aren’t leaving BIC; BIC is leaving us. We are a group that has bleed BIC Orange for many years; we all have more than 10 years of service with the company. We have worked hard for BIC and lived by the BIC Vision and Values. Now we are asking you to live by those Values by providing some relief to the major impact the sale of BIC Graphic USA is having on this group.
We are requesting that you remove the penalty for not being 55 at the time of the sale and provide retiree life insurance when we retire. These are the same benefits people who are over 55 are receiving, even if they have less years of service than we do.
A few years ago BIC offered 5 years added to age and length of service for pension calculations as way to reduce workforce voluntarily. That was creative thinking that created a win-win. We are hoping you can be equally creative now.
We thank you for your time and looking forward to hearing from you.
13 Comments
I am currently 51 years old and had planned on remaining with BIC for as long as it was mutually beneficial. This "cutoff" of the pension has dramatically change the trajectory of the life of me and my family for many, many years to come. I pray that BIC will see fit do reconsider their decision.
When I started working at Bic Graphic 28 years ago we felt like a family. I worked through the good years and not so good years because not only did I believe in this company, but I would also be able to retire with a pension. Because of my age on June 30,2017 I am unable to retire as a Bic employee. When I do decide to retire I am penalized on the percentage of money I can receive. I am treated the same as someone who quit years ago. I never stopped working to help make Bic great, Bic stopped being my employer.
I have been proud to work for BIC Graphic for 18 years. Based on my age, I lost the medical insurance benefit, I hope that BIC would reconsider the pension plan guidelines for those of us who are not 55 as of the 30-JUN-2017.
On the proposed June 30th termination date I will be less than two months from age 55. Those two months are worth over 40% of the pension benefit that I am counting on for me and my family. I planned on working for BIC until I was at least age 62 which would have increased my pension benefits significantly. Since I will no longer have the opportunity to work for BIC until I reach age 62 I would at least like to get the benefits I would have received when I reached age 55.
I have been a Bic EMPOLYEE for 23 years and when I first started here at Bic this company was a Family company EVERYONE was treated as a Family member and Bic pride themselves as being a top notch Employer and being 1 of the few companies that treated their empolyees as Family and being BETTER than all the other companies in the area. I loss my retirement Health insurance because of my age not years of service and now because of my age I am being penalized again?
I recently celebrated my 20th anniversary with BIC. During those years BIC has made every effort to treat employees fairly and with respect. The pension penalty and the loss of retiree medical are two exceptions. These benefits are structured to encourage employees to stay with BIC until retirement. I had opportunities to go elsewhere for higher salaries and better health benefits, but chose BIC largely due to the retirement benefits. My goal has always been to stop working full time before 60. At 52 I can't realistically makeup for the loss. I've been knee deep in implementing many systems to make BIC more profitable - everything from the first email system to phone systems to Oracle. All required long days and longer weeks for way too long. I've bleed Bic Orange! The sale of BIC Graphic USA is a business decision, but for us this is our lives so it is personal.
12 years at BIC and loved every minute of it. The people I work with on a daily basis are like family. I have had the opportunity to meet Bruno Bich on 3 occasions and was impressed that he remembered my name after 4 years and meeting him for the first time. I can understand the decision that BIC and the board have made on selling the company, but do not want to leave BIC with a sour taste knowing that they could have done right by so many people that have put in so many years.
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We recognize the BIC Pension plan is a generous plan. For many of us the decision to stay with BIC in recent years was largely due to the pension plan. Our life plans were based on counting on the plan being there for us, as we were promised when we began employment with BIC. In the plan guidelines those of us under 55 suffer the most because of the penalty imposed because we will not have reached our 55th birthday before the sale of the Graphic division. The Human Resources group will point out that you can “make it up” by delaying benefits until 65. In the best case, it takes delaying drawing the pension by three years – so 36 months of benefits is lost. That isn’t making it up.
In addition to the under 55 penalty on the pension, most of us lost the retiree medical insurance benefit 5 years ago. We were either under 50 or had less than 15 years of service at that time. We were given a small reimbursement for that did not come close to what the benefit was worth to us.
We are also now finding out that we will lose retiree life insurance because we will not be 55 when our employment ends.
We aren’t leaving BIC; BIC is leaving us. We are a group that has bleed BIC Orange for many years; we all have more than 10 years of service with the company. We have worked hard for BIC and lived by the BIC Vision and Values. Now we are asking you to live by those Values by providing some relief to the major impact the sale of BIC Graphic USA is having on this group.
We are requesting that you remove the penalty for not being 55 at the time of the sale and provide retiree life insurance when we retire. These are the same benefits people who are over 55 are receiving, even if they have less years of service than we do.
A few years ago BIC offered 5 years added to age and length of service for pension calculations as way to reduce workforce voluntarily. That was creative thinking that created a win-win. We are hoping you can be equally creative now.
We thank you for your time and looking forward to hearing from you.
13 Comments
I have been an employee of BIC for almost 24 years. After ten years you know you are in a career, a career until you reach retirement. That career has been cut short. All those years of service disregarded by a company that doesn't seem to hold true to the ethics they asked us to live by - "Honor the Past" and "Invent the Future." My past was spent making a company successful and my future is now needing to be rethought. I can only hope that BIC rethinks their decision on the age 55 pension limitation.
I am currently 51 years old and had planned on remaining with BIC for as long as it was mutually beneficial. This "cutoff" of the pension has dramatically change the trajectory of the life of me and my family for many, many years to come. I pray that BIC will see fit do reconsider their decision.
When I started working at Bic Graphic 28 years ago we felt like a family. I worked through the good years and not so good years because not only did I believe in this company, but I would also be able to retire with a pension. Because of my age on June 30,2017 I am unable to retire as a Bic employee. When I do decide to retire I am penalized on the percentage of money I can receive. I am treated the same as someone who quit years ago. I never stopped working to help make Bic great, Bic stopped being my employer.
I have been proud to work for BIC Graphic for 18 years. Based on my age, I lost the medical insurance benefit, I hope that BIC would reconsider the pension plan guidelines for those of us who are not 55 as of the 30-JUN-2017.
On the proposed June 30th termination date I will be less than two months from age 55. Those two months are worth over 40% of the pension benefit that I am counting on for me and my family. I planned on working for BIC until I was at least age 62 which would have increased my pension benefits significantly. Since I will no longer have the opportunity to work for BIC until I reach age 62 I would at least like to get the benefits I would have received when I reached age 55.
I have been a Bic EMPOLYEE for 23 years and when I first started here at Bic this company was a Family company EVERYONE was treated as a Family member and Bic pride themselves as being a top notch Employer and being 1 of the few companies that treated their empolyees as Family and being BETTER than all the other companies in the area. I loss my retirement Health insurance because of my age not years of service and now because of my age I am being penalized again?
I recently celebrated my 20th anniversary with BIC. During those years BIC has made every effort to treat employees fairly and with respect. The pension penalty and the loss of retiree medical are two exceptions. These benefits are structured to encourage employees to stay with BIC until retirement. I had opportunities to go elsewhere for higher salaries and better health benefits, but chose BIC largely due to the retirement benefits. My goal has always been to stop working full time before 60. At 52 I can't realistically makeup for the loss. I've been knee deep in implementing many systems to make BIC more profitable - everything from the first email system to phone systems to Oracle. All required long days and longer weeks for way too long. I've bleed Bic Orange! The sale of BIC Graphic USA is a business decision, but for us this is our lives so it is personal.
12 years at BIC and loved every minute of it. The people I work with on a daily basis are like family. I have had the opportunity to meet Bruno Bich on 3 occasions and was impressed that he remembered my name after 4 years and meeting him for the first time. I can understand the decision that BIC and the board have made on selling the company, but do not want to leave BIC with a sour taste knowing that they could have done right by so many people that have put in so many years.
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I have been an employee of BIC for almost 24 years. After ten years you know you are in a career, a career until you reach retirement. That career has been cut short. All those years of service disregarded by a company that doesn't seem to hold true to the ethics they asked us to live by - "Honor the Past" and "Invent the Future." My past was spent making a company successful and my future is now needing to be rethought. I can only hope that BIC rethinks their decision on the age 55 pension limitation.