Demand that the Treasury Department protect retiree pensions

Pensions are under attack: Hundreds of thousands of retirees may lose up to 70% of their pensions. Call on the U.S. Treasury Department to protect—not cut—workers' pensions.

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm Joellen Leavelle of the organization Pension Rights Center, and I started a petition to the U.S. Treasury Department, which says:

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, allowed 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 bipartisan solution to fix underfunded multiemployer plans while preserving pension promises to workers, retirees, and their families.

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%.¹

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.²

Between now and May 7, 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 will be affected, setting a dangerous precedent for future cuts in other multiemployer plans, which would affect more than a million people.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

—Joellen Leavelle, Pension Rights Center

Sources:

1. "Retired truckers protest potential pension cuts on Capitol Hill," Cleveland.com, April 14, 2016
http://act.moveon.org/go/3284?t=4&akid=164449.10220574.Sa0K52

2. "Retirees Rally at the Capitol, Protesting Pension Cuts," The New York Times, April 14, 2016
http://act.moveon.org/go/3285?t=6&akid=164449.10220574.Sa0K52

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

Want to support our work? MoveOn member contributions have powered our work together for more than 17 years. Hundreds of thousands of people chip in each year—which is why we're able to be fiercely independent, answering to no individual, corporation, politician, or political party. You can become a monthly donor by clicking here, or chip in a one-time gift here.

---