PRC In the News
10/31/13|BenefitsPro

Pension rights group objects to cutting retiree benefits

The Pension Rights Center agrees that many multiemployer pension plans are in financial distress right now, and that reforms are needed, but it told a House committee this week that it doesn’t agree with the idea of cutting existing benefits to retirees.

PRC In the News
10/31/13|Pensions & Investments

Union and retiree pressure mounting against multiemployer pension fund reform

At a hearing held Tuesday by the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions to consider possible legislation, members of the Retirement Security Review Commission discussed their reform proposals, which would allow for reduced benefits for future and possibly current retirees in the most troubled pension funds.

Press Release
10/29/13

Pension Rights Center Stands with Pensioners against Proposed Cuts

WASHINGTON – The Pension Rights Center released a statement today cautioning Congress against supporting a proposal that “endorses the unprecedented and dangerous step of empowering pension plan trustees … to slash benefits of men and women who are already in retirement and have no opportunity to replace lost benefits.” The statement, distributed at a hearing […]

Speeches & Statements
10/29/13

PRC statement on protecting employees, employers, and retirees when making reforms to the multiemployer pension system (October 29, 2013)

The Pension Rights Center submitted a statement for the Congressional record to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee for a hearing titled “Strengthening the Multiemployer Pension System: How Will Proposed Reforms Affect Employers, Workers, and Retirees?” In its statement, the Pension Rights Center opposed proposals […]

Press Release
10/29/13

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Debra Whitman Join Pension Rights Center’s Board of Directors

WASHINGTON — The Pension Rights Center is pleased to announce that former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and AARP Executive Vice President Debra Bailey Whitman have joined the organization’s board of directors. Townsend and Whitman join a prestigious roster of academic, legal, and policy experts in guiding the nation’s leading consumer organization on retirement […]

Events
10/25/13

ERISA at 40: What Were They Thinking?

Event description: Enacted in 1974, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act was the result of a decade-long quest to safeguard the retirement savings of American workers. Opposed by business interests and most labor unions, hobbled by turf wars in Congress and the Executive Branch, ERISA overcame long odds, bringing sweeping regulatory changes for employee benefit plans. […]

PRC In the News
10/24/13|CNNMoney

Pensions ask retirees to pay back tens of thousands

Some pension plans have overpaid retirees for years — now they’re demanding their money back. For retirees, it can mean owing tens of thousands of dollars. And with little warning, their pension checks are being slashed to cover their debt.

PRC In the News
10/22/13|Labor Notes

Stealth Bill Would Allow Cuts to Current Pensions

If there was a bright side to the government shutdown, it’s that Congress has delayed taking up a little-publicized bill that would leave some pensioners high and dry.

PRC In the News
10/17/13|In These Times

The War on Pensions Goes Federal

Congress is expected to take up legislation in the next month that would fundamentally reshape the laws governing multi-employer plans. A soon-to-be-introduced bill could allow the trustees of some financially troubled plans, like the Central States Fund, to slash benefits already promised to current retirees. It’s not yet clear how big those cuts would be.

PRC In the News
10/05/13|Associated Press

Law shields churches, leaves pensions unprotected

Pension shortfalls at some religiously affiliated hospitals, businesses and social service agencies are raising new alarms and spotlighting a largely overlooked gap in the law protecting Americans’ retirement benefits.

PRC In the News
10/02/13|Salon

This week’s other huge (but little-noticed) fight: Wall Street’s newest scheme

While we’re all distracted, a quiet battle this week could seriously affect your finances. Here’s what’s at stake