Gretchen Thal

TVA Retirement System Board of Directors

Canpaign Flyer #1

I come from a strong union family background, my father in law retired an IBEW member, and my children’s grandfather was a founder of the Chattanooga Sheet metal Workers Union. I personally am a career long member of the EA. The Tennessee Valley Trades and Labor Council, which is made up of all union members working for TVA, also endorse me as does the TVA Veterans association. My opponent is not a union member; he is on the PG scale. I have nothing against management and have some close friends within this employee group. However, TVA already appoints three managers to the Board to look after their interests. Electing my opponent will tip the scales dangerously in favor of management and leave the employees with severely weakened representation. A three against three struggle is difficult, but four against two is a predetermined defeat.
My opponent suggests that I voted against contributions to the System by TVA. The annual $14million 401K match is a contribution by TVA that is credited to your individual account. This is money that I was able to secure for you that was not there before I was first elected. It is true that TVA has not made a "percentage of payroll" contribution to the System in a number of years. I want to explain why this is happening.
When I was elected in 1996 our assets were $5.1 billion. Through investments since you elected me to represent your interests, our assets have grown by about 20% percent. Even with the current market declines we still have over a $6 billion asset balance. As a result of my investment guidance involvement, we were able to "spend" over $500 million on you in one year alone. These unprecedented returns on our investments have permitted me to secure the largest benefit enhancement package in the retirement systems history. It also put us in a position of having, for the first time, a surplus of funds. This proved to be a double edged sword.
TVARS rules provide that TVA makes a contribution when the system is under funded and no contribution when our assets exceed 100% of our liabilities. We pay out about $350 million each year. I strongly feel that TVA should make contributions on a regular annual basis, and I vote that way. Regardless of my arguments, I can't force a voluntary donation when the rules won't support my demands. With this knowledge in hand and faced with a veto of the 1998 $500 million benefit package, I did what I thought was right. I secured the $500 million benefit and voted in favor of a "0" contribution that year alone. No matter how I voted TVA would not have had to contribute that year, and if I had gone "against the grain" the package would have been lost. That is to say that you members would not even know the term "Supplemental Benefit".

Please feel free to contact Gretchen Thal with any concerns, questions, and comments.
Emails: home gdthal@hiwaay.net work gdthal@tva.gov
Visit my web address at http://home.hiwaay.net/~johnsond/
Phone: work 423-751-7599 FAX: 423-751-8525
Mailing address: Gretchen D.Thal, 1101 Market Street, HB 2A-C, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402-2801