Vol. 80/No. 17 May 2, 2016
Teamsters hold DC rally to demand halt to pension cuts
A lot of the protesters were in their 60s or 70s, some using walkers or canes. They included workers already receiving benefits and others who are about to be eligible. They demanded the Treasury Department block the gutting of their pensions, which they learned about through form letters sent out by fund administrators last October. Many carried these letters with them.
“This is not what I expected after 36 years of working on the road,” said Maxwell Cole, a truck driver from Kentucky. His pension is set to fall from $2,200 a month to $1,200. “I don’t see how my wife and I can make it.”
The funds that were supposed to guarantee retirees’ payments for the rest of their lives were gambled away by money managers assigned to administer them. The Teamsters Central States fund lost 42 percent of its assets as the stock market dropped during 2008 and 2009.
A provision in a 1,600-page federal spending bill adopted in December 2014 allows trustees of multiemployer retirement plans to slash benefits if the fund is projected to run out of money within 15 years and its failure is likely to overwhelm the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation insurance.
Administrators of plans like the Central States Pension Fund can apply to the Treasury Department for permission to cut retiree benefits temporarily or permanently. In this case, the Treasury Department has until May 7 to decide whether to approve the cuts. Recipients are also supposed to be able to vote on them, in a rigged process that counts anyone who does not submit a ballot as a vote in favor.
Related articles:
Verizon strikers: Time to say no to concessions!
Stand in solidarity with 40,000 strikers
On the Picket Line
Protests across country demand $15/hour and union
Labor actions rise in China as bosses slash jobs, wages
Fight for pensions for entire working class
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