Treasury poised to announce decision on pension cuts for Teamsters

The Hill reports:

The Treasury Department is poised to decide whether to approve a plan for the Central States Pension Fund that would significantly reduce benefits for hundreds of thousands of current and future retirees.

If the cuts are approved, they would be the first benefit reductions Treasury signed off on under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) of 2014, which allows pension funds headed toward insolvency to petition the department to cut benefits.


Under the rules, the cuts would become effective around July 1. The beneficiaries can vote on whether to accept the plan, but Treasury could overrule a vote to reject the cuts if the department determines that they are necessary.

The average benefit reduction for all participants in the plan, which covers members of Teamsters unions, would be 22.6 percent, but the proposed cuts to Central States would lower benefits by as much as 40 to 70 percent for some people. By law, the fund can’t reduce benefits for those who are disabled or at least 80 years old.

This will get people thinking about the viability of all pension plans if they haven't thought of them by now.