Blogs & Newsletters
Time for Select Pension Committee to Shine as Midterms’ Afterglow Dims
By David Brandolph With the 2018 midterm elections mostly in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for a special bipartisan congressional committee on pensions to complete its mission and come up with a comprehensive and fair solution that rescues financially struggling plans, helps save the federal agency backstopping pensions, and protects the hard-earned benefits owed to […]
Retirees demand candidates save their pensions
By David Brandolph Political candidates vying for office in the midterms and beyond need to pay attention to fixing a key under-the-radar economic issue that has energized hundreds of thousands of committed working class voters concentrated in key battleground states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. These voters are retired truck drivers, mineworkers, iron workers, and […]
Retirees fear permanent Halloween horror if Congress fails to save pensions
By David Brandolph Ghosts and goblins can be scary, but this Halloween tens of thousands of retirees across the country are counting on a special under-the-radar congressional committee to help them avoid the frightening prospect of losing their retirement benefits due to a pension plan insolvency crisis. Congress’ failure to act would also have horrific […]
Proposed legislation would provide new protections for women
By Jane Smith Our retirement system is based on the notion that most people work full-time throughout their lives. This is a concept that has framed the rules for retirement plans. However, a lifetime of full-time work is not the common practice for many women. As Senator Patty Murray documents in the “Findings” section of […]
Pension cuts law makes mockery of American democratic principles – Retirees to use democratic processes to fight back
By David Brandolph The idea of one person, one vote, is a core principle of American democracy, and, consistent with this tenet, millions of citizens across the nation are expected to exercise their right to vote in elections taking place in the next few weeks. At about the same time, workers and retirees in a […]
Are you a pension attorney? Join our network!
By Karen Racowsky As the Pension Rights Center’s Staff Attorney, I am usually on backup phone duty when Operations and Referrals Manager, Kyle Garrett, is at lunch or on another call. Since Kyle is in charge of most of our intake, when he’s busy, I am usually the one who talks to retirees who aren’t […]
The Joint Select Committee wants to hear from you
By Emily Gilbert We are quickly approaching the end of September and the deadline for stakeholders to submit their comments to the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. The committee was formed as part of the bipartisan budget agreement approved by Congress in February of this year, and they are tasked with […]
Interconnected Disconnections: When Former Employees and their Retirement Plans Can’t Find Each Other
By Emily Spreiser When I was in high school I was very lucky to be able to go on a school trip to France with a bunch of other American students. One day we were touring a market in in the South of France and, eager to practice what I had learned in French class, […]
Wall Street Journal article highlights “harsh” pension practice
By Karen Friedman This weekend’s edition of the Wall Street Journal features a front page article by Theo Francis highlighting pension plans’ practice of trying to recover money they have mistakenly paid their retirees, often years later when the retiree cannot afford to pay back the money. Although this practice, often called “recoupment,” has gone […]
Inspiring trip to Columbus brings hope for multiemployer solution
By Karen Friedman I flew into Columbus, Ohio last Thursday to join with 12,000 retired and active miners, truck drivers, warehouse workers, ironworkers, spouses, and others who were part of a historic rally on the lawn outside the Ohio statehouse urging Congress to fix the pension crisis and keep pension promises. The rally was timed […]
Dividing retirement benefits at divorce shouldn’t be this hard
By Emily Spreiser For many people going through a divorce, obtaining a fair share of a former spouse’s retirement benefit is essential to ensuring financial security in old age. This is especially true for individuals who worked in the home while they were married, caring for children or sick or elderly relatives. That is because […]
Congress should read new PBGC report and act fast to solve multiemployer crisis
By Karen Friedman If Congress and the Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Plans need any further proof that they should act to solve the multiemployer crisis, all they need to do is read the latest report from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). The PBGC’s 2017 Projections Report shows that the financial […]
