The Western Pennsylvania Teamsters and Employers Pension Fund, headquartered in Pittsburgh, applied for permission to reduce benefits to remain solvent, which could cut the pensions of thousands of Teamsters.

The Central States Pension Fund ended the first quarter of 2018 with assets of $14.8 billion, a loss of $172 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2018. However, the loss would have been much worse except for a one-time payment of $467 million by the Kroger Corporation; this was a lump sum payment to pull all Kroger and some Kroger-contractor employees out of the pension fund permanently.

Thousands of unionists, most of them Mineworkers and Teamsters, but also workers from other unions and groups, rallied under a hot sun outside the Ohio State Capitol in Columbus on July 12 to demand that Congress take action to save workers’ earned pensions.

Some 10,000 union members, led by mine workers, Teamster retirees, and pension advocates rally in Columbus to urge passage of the Butch Lewis Act to protect hard-earned pensions. Speakers are calling on Congress to “do the right thing” to safeguard pensions for millions who did honest work, earned a pension, and could lose it due to no fault of their own.

Car caravans and busloads of active and retired Teamsters, Mineworkers and a range of allies will converge on Columbus, Ohio for a rally Thursday, July 12. Thousands are being mobilized by the pension action committees of the National United Committee to Protect Pensions.

The long-awaited Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the Central States Pension Fund is out, and provides detailed background facts which support what TDU and the pension protection movement are saying.

Mike Walden is the President of the National United Committee to Protect Pensions (NUCPP). He is a retired Roadway Express Teamster from Akron Local 24. The NUCPP is an organization of pension action committees spread throughout the Midwest, South and beyond.

Central States participants – both retirees and active Teamsters – have been invited to a conference call – Voices for Pension Security – to be held Wednesday, May 2 at 7:30 pm Eastern, 6:30 pm Central, and 5:30 pm Mountain. The call-in number is 877-229-8493 and the access code is 114828.

The year-end Central States Pension Fund financial report has been obtained by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), and shows that the Fund ended 2017 with $15.0 billion in assets. This is down from $15.27 billion one year earlier; the loss of $267 million during 2017 was modest, due to the run-up in the stock market.

A new threat to retirees and workers’ pensions was introduced in Congress last month: the misnamed “Give Retirement Options to Workers” Act. It does not give options to workers, but it could shift risk and uncertainty to some workers, and undermine stable pensions.