Month: December 2014
Courtney: Six more Triangle employees claim lost pension benefits
The New England Pension Assistance Project is mentioned again, in this follow-up article about the Triangle Wire mass recoupment case (see the December 23 story).
The Republican Congress’s First Salvos: Corporations: 5 – Workers: 1
The Omnibus spending bill just passed by Congress indicates clearly that the Republican Legislative Offensive is being rolled out faster than otherwise might have been predicted.
A Historic End to the 113th Congress Caps a Remarkable Year in Politics
The final days of the 113th Congress — coming just days before Christmas and the new year — brought with it the end of a turbulent month — and year — of American politics.
That solid pension benefit? It may be subject to change
In the fine print of the federal budget compromise, troubled pension plans now have the right to reduce benefits
Pension law change alarms retiree groups
Forty years after Congress took steps to guarantee that retirees get the pensions they were promised, another generation of lawmakers has taken a chisel to those legal protections.
Former Triangle Wire workers fight to retain pensions
The New England Pension Assistance Project is featured in this article about a mass recoupment case, in which a pension plan overpaid several retirees for years and now those pensions are being cut or eliminated entirely. In some cases, the plan is also demanding that the retiree pay back hundred of dollars at once.
New federal law allows pension cuts
More than 100,000 New Yorkers could face cuts in their union pensions in coming years, thanks to a provision that was tucked into Congress’ omnibus spending bill this month to keep the federal government funded for another year. The measure would, under certain conditions, allow cuts to what are known as multi-employer pensions.
Merry Christmas, Seniors. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow they may cut your pension.
House Republicans quietly snuck in a number of egregious add-ons to the spending bill. One of those add-ons allows employers of certain companies whose pension funding is in trouble to simply cut the amount of retirement pension they promised retirees.
Multiemployer plans can cut benefits to stay solvent
Trustees of distressed multiemployer pension funds got new tools to avert insolvency in a package of reforms approved by Congress in mid-December, including the right to reduce benefits for active workers and retirees in deeply underfunded plans.
Decision on pension payout will last a lifetime
Take the money or wait? That’s the $90,402 question The New York Times Co. has put to me as it offers to buy out my right to the lifelong monthly pension I earned when the parent of the Times newspaper also owned the Globe.
New law lets some pension plans cut promised benefits
For some retirees, Congress has played the Grinch this holiday season. Tucked into the federal spending bill were provisions that will allow certain struggling multi-employer pension plans to reduce benefits already being received by retirees.
Prudential Piles on the Corporate Pensions
Big U.S. companies have found a way to escape the burden of ballooning pension obligations: pay an insurance company to take them over.
