JULY 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News

Robert Casey’s legislation would help keep workers’ pensions solvent

BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM

REGION, June 17th- The Americans for Limited Government (ALG), a conservative political organization in Fairfax, Virginia, is critizing United States Senator Robert Casey’s (Democrat-Pennsylvania) Pension bailout legislation and is urging the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to reject it.

The United States Congress is considering legislation that would help the multi-employer pension system remain solvent.

Mr. Casey’s bill titled, “Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act of 2010,” could result in taxpayer money being used to help workers pensions remain solvent.

Most of these pensions are held in what are known as multi-employer pension funds. Created in 1974 as part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, these funds are an agreement between a union and two or more employers to fund the pension of workers and retirees. It has been estimated the pension fund could be approximately $165 million in debt.

The rub is that many of the participating company’s have gone out of business but their employees remain in the system, and become the remaining company’s responsibility. As these multi-employer pension plans become more and more insolvent, the unions are faced with members pensions shortfalls.

The ALG, their media allies, and other conservative groups are suggesting the legislation is nothing but a bailout of union members pensions.

If the pension problem is not rectified the shortfall could result in cutting benefits, raising the retirement age, asking retired members to contribute to the fund or force unions to use dues money