via freep.com,
by Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press,
May 6, 2016,
Retired truck drivers and other members of the Teamsters union scored a victory and avoided drastic cuts to their pensions, as the U.S. Treasury rejected a bailout plan proposed by the Central States Pension Fund.
Central States Pension Fund trustees submitted a proposed rescue plan in late September as a way to avoid an even more dire situation where the plan could run out of money in 10 years. The Treasury had until Saturday to carefully review the application to see whether it satisfied the requirements under a new federal pension law regarding plans that cover a group of employers.
Thomas Nyhan, executive director of the Central States Pension Fund, said in a statement Friday that the trustees will carefully consider the next appropriate steps.
Central States has said it would run out of money in about a decade. The deregulation of the trucking industry in the 1980s really hurt the Teamsters’ membership. The latest financial crisis also contributed, as a group of employers went out of business or has filed for bankruptcy since 2008.