Teamsters Protest Plan That Would Cut Pensions
March 9, 2016
By: Brian Francisco, The Journal Gazette
March 9, 2016
Retired freight drivers and warehouse workers facing drastic reductions in their pension benefits say they cannot get the attention of federal lawmakers who represent northeast Indiana.
So about 30 people, carrying signs imploring “Hands Off Our Pensions,” marched Tuesday afternoon in front of the E. Ross Adair Federal Building, where Sen. Dan Coats and Rep. Marlin Stutzman keep offices.
Protesters said Coats, R-Ind.; Stutzman, R-3rd; and Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., have not responded to their requests for meetings, conversations or help.
“When your representatives aren’t standing up for you, it’s pretty darned frustrating. … Give us five minutes of your time; it’s not that much to ask,” Gary Chandler said in an interview.
But Stutzman’s communications director said no such requests have been received by his staffs in Fort Wayne and Washington.
“(There’s) no record of a meeting request or anyone wanting to come into our office to talk about this,” Kelsey Knight said in a telephone interview.
The offices of Coats and Donnelly said they have responded to emails and phone calls about the pensions.
About 400,000 Teamsters union members could see their pension benefits cut by as much as a reported 60 percent under a proposal by Central States Pension Fund. Many of the workers live in the Midwest, including nearly 48,000 in Ohio, more than 47,000 in Michigan and more than 22,000 in Indiana.
Teamsters are asking Congress to amend or repeal a 2014 law that allows financially troubled multiemployer pension funds to suspend benefits if doing so will make the plans solvent. Central States has said it needs $11 billion in relief to stay afloat.
Protest organizer Glenn Nicodemus, 65, of Portland said Teamsters are “kind of the canary in the mine shaft.” He said that if the Central States plan is approved by the U.S. Treasury Department, “other funds will try to do the same thing.”
Treasury has until early May to accept or reject the Central States plan, which would go into effect in July if approved.
Legislation introduced in Congress would amend or repeal the law. The sponsors of three such bills are Ohio lawmakers: Republican Sen. Rob Portman, Republican Rep. David Joyce and Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.
Nicodemus noted that Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-1st, is the only Hoosier to co-sponsor any of the measures. He said the lone response he has gotten from other Indiana legislators is that they “will take my thoughts into consideration should (legislation) reach the floor.”
Matt Lahr, communications director for Coats, said in an email that Coats “has been contacted by around 50 Hoosiers on this issue and has responded to each constituent via email or phone. He has received no meeting requests.”
Knight said Stutzman’s staff has responded to about 30 letters in the past year. Donnelly’s office said it has attempted to respond to “numerous Hoosiers” who reached out to the office.
Michael Campbell, press secretary for Donnelly, said Donnelly “has called on the Treasury Department to work with the Pension Fund to find an alternative that protects the benefits of impacted retirees in Indiana. These Hoosier workers held up their end of the bargain and deserve to receive the benefits they have earned.”
Central States began notifying current and retired workers in October of proposed cuts in pension benefits. Nicodemus and Chandler, 61, said they each face reductions of 50 percent.
Protester Dirk Greene, 59, who like Chandler is retired from the Supervalu distribution center in Fort Wayne, said he, too, was told his benefits would be shaved by 50 percent.
“We’re just normal, everyday working people who tried to do it right,” Green said. “And part of the American dream should be that if you do it correctly, you should be treated fairly.”
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act that makes the cuts possible was part of the $1 trillion federal spending plan known as “cromnibus” that Congress approved in December 2014.