Congressman Boyle Fights to Protect Multiemployer Pensions

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA-13) joined Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9) introducing the Keep Our Pension Promises Act and calling for restored protections for hard-earned retirement security afforded by multiemployer pension plans.

"Pensions are promises to our workers that must not be broken; a critical source of retirement security for millions of Americans," said Congressman Boyle. "Destructive measures undercutting multiemployer pension plans snuck into last year's must-pass omnibus spending bill would, for the first time in over forty years, allow pension plans to arbitrarily cut the benefits they promised to retirees who spent years earning them. More than ten million Americans who rely on multiemployer pensions are now confronted with a less secure retirement. They could even risk slipping into poverty without the hard-earned pension income owed to them. This legislation will prevent that from happening. And, more broadly, it will shore up increasingly unstable pension plans and make sure an employer's obligations to its workers are fulfilled."

The Protect Our Pension Promises Act will undo last year's anti-worker provisions by restoring rules that do not allow pension plans to unilaterally cut benefits. It will also help pension managers who are under great financial stress by helping them to reinforce their underfunded plans with the ability to put ‘orphaned' pensioners into a separate plan where it is easier to manage obligations owed to them. This bill will make sure that a company's pension obligations to its past and present employees are the top priority should it face bankruptcy.