Warren Drops New Report on How Biden-Harris Admin and Congressional Democrats Saved Nearly 1.4 Million Teamsters’ and Other Union Pensions
New data from White House reveals that in Massachusetts alone, 35,000 union workers' pensions were saved.
“Democrats will continue to fight to ensure all Americans can count on a secure retirement, including the benefits they have earned, from pensions to Social Security.”
Boston, MA – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a report detailing how the Biden-Harris administration, along with Congressional Democrats, saved the pensions of nearly 1.4 million Teamsters and other union members.
In Massachusetts alone, 35,000 workers and retirees have benefited from the pension protections championed by Senator Warren and included in ARPA.
In 2017, it became clear that union multiemployer pension plans (MPPs) for over a million workers were at risk of becoming insolvent due to problems stemming from the 2008 financial crisis and later exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, pension benefits could have been slashed by up to 98%.
The Trump administration, with a Republican Congress, took no action to save the pensions. Instead, Senators Warren and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act to save these pension funds without cutting benefits.
In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration and Congressional Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), a relief package created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the Butch Lewis Act, securing the retirement benefits of union workers and retirees in MPP funds for 30 years without cutting the earned benefits of participants and beneficiaries
ARPA provided a $68 billion investment to save the pensions of nearly 1.4 million union workers and retirees across America through 2051, with no cuts to earned benefits. Following the enactment of ARPA, severe pension cuts were reversed for over 80,000 union workers and retirees across 18 multiemployer plans.
“After giant hedge funds and big banks took down our economy and put pension funds at risk, Democrats stepped up to protect our union workers, ” said Senator Warren. “I fought hard alongside the Biden-Harris administration to ensure Massachusetts Teamsters and other union workers could continue to count on the retirement funds they earned.”
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