The Plan to Kill Multi-Employer Pensions
Feb 03, 2020 - by: Martinkath
The Grassley-Alexander Multi-Employer Pension Plan Proposal
Once again, our multiemployer pensions are under attack. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) have introduced a plan that has been labeled “a recipe for the ruin of IBEW multiemployer pensions,” which includea the National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF) and, locally, the Edison Pension Fund. This is the second year in a row that our ability to retire with dignity and security has been threatened, and this one is more detailed and potentially devastating than the last.
How IBEW Local 48 Members Can Help
Local 48 encourages you to go to ibew.org/political/protectourpension to get more information, including reading the white paper titled “Multiemployer Pension Recapitalization and Reform Plan.”
The reality of it is that they plan to kill America’s multiemployer plans, including ours. Implementation of legislation such as described in the white paper would:
- Drastically raise fees on the healthy pension plans like the NEBF
- Increase the amount of taxes retirees pay on benefits, up to 10%
- Turn “green zone” (healthy) plans into “yellow” or “red “zone” (endangered or critical) plans, thus forcing the reduction of benefits and increasing taxes on the pensioners
Your leadership is asking for you to make your opposition to the Grassley-Alexander Multi-Employer Pension Plan Proposal known to lawmakers by:
- Showing up to official and campaign events
- Calling your senators
- Sending a Letter to the Editor to your local newspaper
- Spreading the word by social media
Once again, please visit ibew.org/political/protectourpension to find talking points, social media graphics, messaging guidance, sample telephone scripts, and a list of US Senators by state. Using this information to get the word out to other members and community will help the entire IBEW.
This latest attack, if it succeeds, will decimate your defined benefit pension plan.
In Solidarity,
