Minutes
AFE President Bong–Suh Lee (BSL) called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. The meeting agenda was adopted.
BSL announced for the record that Hans-Juergen Springer (HJS) had been reelected as the executive secretary to serve for another 4 years until 2016. He also announced that the proposal to extend the term of Deputy Executive Secretary Jill Gale de Villa (JGV), by 2 years until 2014, was approved by the vast majority of the 220 members who responded. The extension of JGV’s term was considered necessary to avoid a possible situation of the positions of executive secretary and deputy executive secretary being filled by newly elected officers as a result of simultaneous elections for the 2 positions. A 2-year extension meant elections for the positions could be roughly equally spaced apart in the future.
AFE–ADB President’s Address
Good afternoon, AFE Members, Ladies, and Gentlemen. As President of the Association of Former Employees of the ADB, I extend a very cordial welcome to all of you. I also extend our thanks to our host, the Government of the Philippines, for inviting ADB and our Association to join ADB’s 2012 Annual Meeting. This country that has been a home for many of us who have traveled to this meeting from near and far, and is still home for the many of us who have always lived here and for those of us who have decided to retire here rather than returning to our countries of origin.
Sadly, several of our members passed on in the year behind us. Among them is Gene Owens who established the Greater Washington, DC chapter and who ran it for several years. May all their souls rest in peace. Let us pause for a moment of silence in honor of their contributions to ADB and AFE.
The year behind us was a very special one for AFE, with a good meeting in Ha Noi followed by successful celebrations of our 25th anniversary in Manila, with golf, a Manila city walking tour, briefing and a walk-about by ADB staff, and two wonderfully lively parties. I am sure many of you who were at the anniversary events have fond memories.
During the last year, AFE has continued to grow in number and strength as an organization representing former staff of all ages. We have maintained a close relationship with ADB departments and offices, several of which are especially important to us former employees. We have discussed matters of mutual interest with the Staff Council, and we have individually contributed time and money to the Staff Community Fund. AFE participated again actively in the annual meeting of the alumni associations of the international organizations in Washington, DC in October last year. Clay Wescott, our Washington, DC chapter coordinator, facilitated the meeting’s workshop on health insurance issues. Our participation provides us with information and knowledge about comparator organizations’ actions and trends in handling pension and insurance matters.
Looking forward, we will continue to actively liaise with ADB on matters of interest and urgency. The review of our bylaws is ongoing. The process has been longer than anticipated, to accommodate discussions of many viewpoints and avoid acting in undue haste that could result in an inferior outcome. We anticipate the process will be over in the next few months. A new membership directory—somewhat overdue—will be put on our website, password protected, and will be updated frequently. It may also be sent as hard copy to members who requested it. We will continue to replace print communication with electronic communication and explore to what extent social networks may serve our needs. We are looking forward to continuing good relations with ADB, ADB’s Staff Council, the Staff Community Fund, and the alumni associations of other international organizations.
Let me thank our office bearers and staff for their hard work and another productive year. I also thank the many dedicated committee members and volunteers whose valued contributions are most important to AFE’s continued functioning.
In closing, may we all have a very informative and pleasant time at this annual meeting, and I look forward to seeing you at our cocktail reception later this afternoon, at the West Banquet Hall.
Thank you.
Minutes of the 25th Annual General Meeting
The minutes of the 25th Annual General Meeting in Ha Noi in 2011 were approved.
Executive Secretary’s Report
The full report of Executive Secretary HJS is on pp. 15–16. In addition to the report, HJS thanked the ladies, led by Raquel Cabiles, who had worked hard in helping with arrangements for AFE’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. He also expressed appreciation to Cesar Juan and Andrea Carlos who regularly go to the office to help with much time-consuming work, including the work that needs to be done when large batches of letters are sent out to members.
Treasurer’s Report
The full report of Treasurer David Parker (DP) appears on p. 16. The financial statements were approved.
Pension Report
HJS presented the pension report, which appears in full on p. 17. In addition, he noted that members sometimes ask whether their pensions are safe. He explained that the Staff Retirement Plan (SRP) is a defined benefits scheme, which requires that the part of the cost and expenses of the SRP not provided by participants’ contributions and income on the retirement fund will be covered by ADB, and in this respect ADB has lived up well to its responsibilities.
He also referred to the new pension scheme ADB introduced for new staff members in October 2006. Although such staff members belong to the same pension fund, they are no longer required to contribute to the fund. After the scheme was introduced, many new staff members did not see the need or forgot to contribute to the fund, even though this would result in their pensions being relatively low. This had a negative impact on the fund. ADB has therefore introduced automatic enrollment in the SRP for all new staff members, initially deducting 10% of their salary for their contribution, but they have the option to request a higher or lower percentage.
HJS mentioned ADB’s decision during 2011 to maintain the guaranteed annual pension increase of 3% for all existing pensioners and existing staff. Staff joining ADB after 1 October 2012 will receive only an inflation-based annual increase. The new regulations followed AFE’s strong intervention when it seemed likely ADB wanted to discontinue the guaranteed 3% annual pension increase. He had pointed out that such a change was not permissible under the Board-approved pension fund regulations.
Finally, HJS informed members that AFE’s proposal to have an alternate on the Pension Committee was accepted. Deputy Executive Secretary JGV was accepted as the alternate.
Medical Insurance Report
The full report, as presented by JGV, appears on pp. 17– 18. In addition to the report, JGV noted that Randy Earman, who is knowledgeable about life insurance, has agreed to join the Health Insurance Committee, now renamed the Insurance Committee.
BPMSD Statements on Staff Retirement and Post-Retirement Insurance Plans
As staff members from BPMSD involved in these matters were unable to attend the meeting, the statements, which appear in full on p. 18, were read out by JGV.
AFE News
JGV encouraged members to send articles on their personal activities for the next issue of AFE News.
Members’ Comments
G Hecker noted that the stop-loss provision, which was reintroduced after being taken away, is a separate item in the health insurance package and is not subsidized by ADB. It is financed solely by the retirees. As such, it could become extremely expensive for a retiree, just when it might be needed at a crucial time. He therefore asked if AFE could raise the issue again and request that retirees and staff be considered as one group, with all being treated equally, particularly with regard to the stop-loss provision.
In response, HJS noted that in the case brought to the Tribunal, it had decided that within the same health insurance plans, retirees and active staff could be treated differently. While that decision cannot be changed, he felt that any similar attempt now to make retirees pay more than active staff would not succeed because there would be many objections. He noted, as an example, that while the increase in the health insurance premium for pensioners as a result of structural changes was 10%, the increase for active staff was much higher. This indicated possible recognition of the greater difficulty pensioners might have with an increase in the premium. He hoped he could present a similar case for pensioners in the pension fund. AFE remains vigilant and is watching developments in this matter.
G Hecker wished to have a breakdown of the health insurance premium into regular health insurance and the stop-loss portion. He said that since the stop-loss portion is financed solely by retirees, it is important to know the extent to which its cost has increased since it was introduced. Further he thought that the decision of the Administrative Tribunal regrettably did not entirely restore the original stoploss benefit for retirees. He expressed concern that the present stop-loss benefit, which is financed by retirees without a subsidy from ADB, could cause problems again for retirees in the future.
E Pernia asked whether during the next 10 years any increase was foreseen in the annual dues members pay to AFE. HJS responded that the subject of increasing the annual dues has not been discussed in recent years, and he saw no reason to consider an increase at present. In accordance with the bylaws, if any increase in the dues is needed, it will have to be approved by the membership.
J Rockett noted that while there were 2,155 retirees in the Group Medical Insurance Plan (GMIP) at the end of 2011, only 468 participants were in the Post Retirement Group Life Insurance Plan (PRGLIP). He said the large difference in these numbers indicates that the PRGLIP is less attractive as an insurance option for staff retiring from ADB, and he suggested that AFE and BPMSD look into the reasons for that. He thought it is possibly due to the rather large reductions in life-cover that kick in when the insured reaches age 65 or 70 (depending on the option purchased), when many retirees need life cover most.
Adjournment
There being no further business, President Lee adjourned the meeting at 3:30 p.m.