(Mid-America Pension Rights Project): Consumer group urges special congressional committee to develop solution to multiemployer pension crisis

Via Pension Rights Center

By Emily Gilbert

As a result of a misguided law passed in 2014 to ostensibly “save” pension plans, the Treasury Department announced last week that it has provisionally approved an eighth application from a multiemployer pension plan seeking to slash the benefits of vulnerable retirees as a way of balancing its books. The Teamsters Local 805 plan headquartered in New York – covering more than 2,000 truck drivers and others – received a thumbs up from the government to severely cut the promised benefits of its retirees, endangering their financial security at a time of life when they have little or no ability to add to their income.

This news comes as tens of thousands of voters throughout the country are paying close attention to an under-the-radar special congressional committee tasked by the end of November with finding a solution to stop their pensions from being cut by as much as 70 percent. Many say they will be choosing candidates based largely on who they believe will improve their economic lot and save their pensions.

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