Welcome To WICA!

You are here: Home

WICA News

Pacific Northwest Golf Tournament Approaching

The Pacific Northwest Golf Tournament will be held on July 9, 2010 at Trophy Lake Golf and Casting in Port Orchard, Washington. There will be a 7:30am Shotgun start and the tournament will be a four person scramble format. Following the tournament there will be a BBQ Buffet lunch and an awards ceremony. Registration for the tournament costs $125 per person for members and $175 per person for non-members. Registration fees include the greens fee, cart rental, and attendance at the lunch and awards ceremony. WICA is also offering hole sponsorships as a promotion tool for your company. Hole sponsorships cost $150 per hole for members and $200 per hole for non-members. This is a great way to get your company’s name in front of other members and potential clients. If you have any questions we can answer for you regarding the tournament, please call the WICA Office at 801-364-0050.

Hawaii Convention Registration is NOW OPEN!

Hawaii Convention Packets were sent to members at the beginning of June and registration forms have started to come in. This year’s convention promises to be unforgettable with a unique location, unmatchable room rates, and additional activities such as the optional Catamaran Cruise, Golf Tournament, and Spouse Program. While registration deadlines are not until September, we STRONGLY recommend registering early to make sure you meet all hotel and WICA registration deadlines. By making hotel reservations before the cutoff, September 15th, you will be able to secure rooms at our group rate which ranges from $175-$275 depending on the type of room requested. These rates are unheard of for any property we hold convention at, but are particularly spectacular for the Grand Wailea. To make room reservations, you may call 1-800-888-6100 or you can make reservations online. Please make sure to use our group code, GWICA, to get our discounted room rates. Although the economy is tumultuous and airfare can be expensive, WICA has taken great strides to ensure that all convention prices are the lowest they possibly can be. The WICA Board also opted to keep registration rates the same as they have been in the past instead of increasing them due to the Hawaii location. Our additional programs also promise to be fabulous opportunities to get out and experience the beautiful island of Maui. To complete the WICA registration, please download and complete this form, and either submit it electronically or fax, mail, or email it to the WICA Regional Office. To see pictures and get more information on the Grand Wailea please visit www.grandwailea.com. For answers to questions regarding the convention itself, please contact the WICA Office at 801-364-0050.

WICA Local Chapter Negotiations In Full Swing:

WICA has several local chapters in the midst of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement this year and early reports show a bit of a disconnect on current market conditions. Those in negotiations include Local 82 Spokane, Washington and Local 16 San Francisco, California whose current CBAs expire July 31st, while Local 69 Salt Lake City, Utah and Local 135 Las Vegas Nevada CBAs expire August 31st, and further Local 76 Albuquerque, New Mexico also expires this year on December 31st. Local 5 Los Angeles, California expired on June 1st and it appears that Labor-Management settled a fair contract given the current state of affairs. Their settlement approved by Local 5 has settled for $0.85 total package for 1 year for mechanics, with the same percentage increase for all classifications, with the exception of refinery maintenance. All refinery maintenance wages were frozen and they added a refinery maintenance mechanic classification at $28.69 total package. This increase was after essentially a three year wage freeze and will be allocated to the benefit package. Local 5 Labor and Management are commended for their partnership and ability to work together as a team in even the toughest of times.

National News

Pension Funding Relief Enacted Into Law

Congress has passed multi-employer defined benefit pension plan funding relief with a House vote of 417 to 1 (H.R. 3962, Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010), which included the Senate pension relief measures passed last March. And, President Obama signed the bill into law before leaving for the G-20 Summit in Toronto. The law has three principal elements, all aimed at blunting the severe impact of the stock market crash and precipitous drop in plan investment portfolios in 2008 and 2009: 1) it extends the amortization periods for 2008 and 2009 stock market losses to 30 years, up from 15; 2) it allows 10-year actuarial smoothing of those same losses (up from 5); and it allows a 130% smoothing corridor of market and actuarial values of those losses (up from 120%). Plans affected by securities fraud losses also can elect the benefit of those options. Actuaries and plan consultants have several technical issues relating to the law and are working on ways to clarify those issues so plans can have the full benefit of this funding relief. Although the relief is limited when compared with previous proposals, it is nevertheless judged to provide substantial relief for many plans. For now, passage of this relief measure quells some of the political turmoil surrounding the Casey bill to provide federal funding to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) for partition of very seriously endangered plans that is mischaracterized in partisan debates as a "union bailout."