Rep. Kaptur, Sen. Sanders, Rep. Ryan call on Congress to Stop Impending Cuts to Multiemployer Pension Plans

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) issued the following statement after a major press conference yesterday in which she, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH), national labor leaders, pension advocates, retirees and pension beneficiaries called on Congress to stop impending cuts to multiemployer pension plans.

“Pensions are earned benefits just like a paycheck,” said Rep Kaptur. “These workers aren’t asking for a favor or a handout. They’ve put in long hours over the course of a lifetime and deserve the compensation they are owed. They certainly deserve better than to be abandoned after that lifetime of work to retire in poverty or be forced to depend on their families or the government for support.

“For more than 40 years, earned pension benefits for current retirees have been protected under federal law,” Kapturadded. “But, at the end of last year, Congress passed a budget that stripped many of those protections and exposed retirees to cuts that take away more than half of their earned pensions. This is not only unfair to the workers that earned these benefits, it is also bad policy that will shift many retirees onto public assistance. It also sets a terrible precedent that exposes other retirement security efforts like Social Security to future cuts. We need a new approach, which is why Senator Sanders and I proposed our Keep Our Pension Promises legislation. This country should respect the value of work, and I am proud to be a soldier in that fight.”

During the event, Senator Sanders spoke out about the importance of pension protections: “when someone works for their entire life and gives up wage increases or healthcare benefit increases in order to make sure he or she will have a decent pension, it is unacceptable to pull the rug out from under that worker. This is a commitment made, with sacrifices made by workers to guarantee that when they retire they will have decent pensions. We are here today to say that those promises have got to be kept!”

Congressman Tim Ryannoted, “workers in this country are profit creators. Their work directly impacts any given company’s ability to make a profit. Pensions are not ‘benefits’ given as a gift from employer to employee, they are delayed payment for work already done. Workers and employers reach an agreement to be paid a lower salary in order to receive their pension at a later date. And when these pension are cut or dissolved, it is a clear breach of contract and workers are being robbed. It’s that simple."

Other speakers at the event included General President James P. Hoffa of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, General Vice President Jimmy Conigliaro of the International Association of Machinists, and Executive Vice President and Policy Director Karen Friedman of the Pension Rights Center. Several Ohio retirees also delivered statements during the event:

Tim Smith, 68: “Thank you for letting me speak today. My name is Tim Smith, I’m a retired Teamster from Local 407 in Cleveland, Ohio. I proudly served my country in the U.S. Army. I worked 32 years on the truck docks at Yellow Freight to earn my pension. I’ve had numerous surgeries while working. I am 68 years old and unable to work as a result of all the surgeries I had. I rely on my pension to support myself, my wife, and my adult daughter who has health issues. If I were to lose any of my pension, I don’t know what I’ll do, what my family will do. My pension has kept us in the middle class. I don’t see how Congress passed a bill to cut the benefits of the most vulnerable. Please stop the clock on pension cuts, please pass KOPPA. Thank you.”

Greg Smith, 66:“I’m speaking today for myself and on behalf of the Northeast Ohio Committee to Protect Pensions. We represent thousands of retired truck drivers and their spouses who will be devastated if cuts are allowed to go forward according to the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. I am a 66-year-old retiree and a proud Air Force veteran who served my country during the Vietnam War. After returning home from military service, I worked for 41-½ years in the trucking industry. I worked for several different trucking companies during that time, and moved around the country to follow my work and to stay in my multiemployer pension plan. Thousands of others did the same thing during the 70s, 80s, and 90s as trucking deregulation put a lot of our employers out of business.

“My pension check supports me, my wife, and my disabled son,” Smithcontinued.“If the Central States Teamster Pension Fund is allowed to cut my pension – and it could be as much as 60% -- what will happen to me and my family? I gave wages and vacation pay in exchange for a promise that I’d get a pension that could never ever be taken away from me. We all felt betrayed when Congress passed that law last year. We didn’t make the plan underfunded. We didn’t invest the money badly during the recession. Retirees are the most vulnerable and now we’re the ones that have to pay for mistakes made by the Fund. I have always done right by this country. And now I’m asking my country to do right by me. Protect our pensions. Pass KOPPA. Stop the clock on pension cuts.”

During the event, Congresswoman Kaptur highlighted the growing number of sponsors for KOPPA legislation in the House of Representatives, which now number more than 20. Several of the co-sponsors issued statements following the event as well:

“Thousands of retired workers in my district and across the nation count on the pension plans they have earned through a lifetime of hard work,”said Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY). “The Keep Our Pension Promises Act is about ensuring the promises we’ve made to these workers remain intact and are not subject to harmful, unnecessary cuts. Protecting retirees has always been a top priority for me, and I am proud to sponsor this legislation which accomplishes just that.”

“I do not believe that cutting benefits to retirees is the moral thing to do – nor do I believe it is necessary,”said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). That’s why I’m proud to be a cosponsor of the Keep Our Pension Promises Act. The bill is a thoughtful approach – closing two tax loopholes that benefit the super-rich in order to fund pension protections for truck drivers, nurses, retail clerks, construction workers and other hardworking Americans.”

Yesterday’s press conference coincided with a U.S. Treasury Department hearing on finalizing a rule that would open the door to pension cuts for current retirees, in accordance with legislation passed by Congress at the end of last year. The Treasury hearing started at 9:00am but, because of the long list of speakers testifying, was still taking place when the press conference began at 2:00pm. If the rule from Treasury is ultimately finalized, it would be the first time that pension retirement security has been compromised since President Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) into law on Labor Day, 1974.

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