To: U.S. Treasury Department
Demand that the Treasury Department Protect Retiree Pensions
Please reject the Central States Pension Fund’s application to cut retiree pensions. If allowed, these pension cuts would be catastrophic to individuals and their families, and could lead to cuts in other severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans – affecting more than a million people. These retirees fear they will lose their homes, won’t be able to pay for medicine, and won’t be able to support their families.
The requested cuts, made possible by the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, are extreme, ill-conceived and won’t solve the problems faced by Central States and other severely underfunded multiemployer plans. We call on the Treasury Department to reject the application and to work with Congress toward a bi-partisan solution to fix underfunded multiemployer plans while preserving pension promises to workers, retirees and their families.
Why is this important?
Late last year, Central States Pension Fund retirees, widows, and spouses were notified that their hard-earned pensions might be slashed by as much as 70 percent.
These proposed cuts are made possible by the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, a law that torpedoes 40 years of established federal private pension law and could ultimately impact millions of American workers and their families.
Between now and May 7th, the Treasury Department is expected to rule on Central States' dangerous proposal. Please stand with retired truck drivers, dock workers, office workers, spouses, widows and others who could be affected by the law by urging the Treasury Department to reject the unfair and ill-conceived cuts proposed by the Central States Pension Fund. If these pension cuts are approved, hundreds of thousands of lives would be affected, setting a dangerous precedent for future cuts in other multiemployer plans, affecting more than a million people.