Blogs & Newsletters

Composite bill: Another threat to multiemployer pension plans
Earlier this fall, a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee held a hearing on draft legislation that has the potential to undermine the stability of the multiemployer pension system. What’s worse is the fact that this proposal, called the composite bill, has a real chance of being slipped into year-end omnibus legislation, not unlike the way […]

A superhero night to remember
If you’ve attended any of our past celebrations, you know that we at the Pension Rights Center know how to throw a party! And that’s just what we did to celebrate our 40th anniversary. On Thursday, October 6, the Pension Rights Center held an anniversary reception, and, in keeping with tradition, we honored a number […]

New white paper: Employee Stock Ownership Plans: Are They Worth the Risks?
Employee Stock Ownership Plans, or “ESOPs,” are retirement plans that invest in employer stock. They are growing in popularity not only because they receive tax benefits that are not available to other types of retirement plans, but also because of their philosophical appeal: they let the employees own part or all of the company that […]

Retirees to Congress and Treasury Department: Don’t cut our pensions!
Last Thursday, more than 2,000 retirees from around the country visited Washington, D.C., to tell Congress and policymakers one thing: Don’t cut our pensions. These retired truck drivers, warehouse workers, dock workers, widows, spouses and other retired Teamsters attended a rally held at the U.S. Capitol to protest devastating pension cuts that could affect more […]

Retirees protest proposed pension cuts
The last few weeks have been busy for retirees who are working around the clock to stop the pension cuts proposed by the Central States Pension Fund that would affect hundreds of thousands of retired truck drivers, spouses and widows. Just this past weekend, retirees in five states held coordinated actions to call attention to the […]

In memory of Butch Lewis
We at the Pension Rights Center extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Butch Lewis who passed away on December 31, 2015. Butch, of Cincinnati, Ohio, fought alongside the Pension Rights Center and tens of thousands of retired Teamsters to stop the life-changing pension cuts made possible by the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of […]

This is what we do: help people
My colleague Kyle often brings to my attention news articles that might merit a response from us. Sometimes the article contains a factual error. Sometimes we disagree with a statement in the article and write an opposing view in a letter to the editor. Sometimes we have additional information to add. Back in March, Kyle […]

A big step forward for state-based initiatives
For the past 15 years, one of the Center’s top priorities has been to find innovative ways of finishing the formidable task of expanding pensions and retirement savings for the about 50 percent of the workforce – 70 million Americans – who are not currently participating in an employer-sponsored retirement savings or pension plan. Getting […]

The fight to protect savers from bad financial advice heats up
The U.S. Department of Labor’s effort to update its fiduciary rules – rules that protect Americans trying to save for retirement – has reached yet another new level. After asking the public for its thoughts on its proposal to close a loophole that, among other things, allows financial advisers to enrich themselves at the expense […]

Central States Pension Fund announces proposed pension cuts
In the last few days we at the Pension Rights Center have been inundated with calls from retirees who are receiving letters from their pension plan informing them that their pension is slated to be cut by as much as 70 percent. All of the retirees we have heard from so far are participants in […]

An amazing “Day of Action”
To help retirees around the country fight back against proposed reductions in their hard-earned pensions, the Pension Rights Center organized a “day of action” on September 10. The day was an amazing success with more than 200 retirees travelling to DC from 11 states to ask government officials and members of Congress to “stop the […]

New statistics show a different type of income inequality
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about income inequality – the increasing gap between our society’s highest-paid workers and the lowest-paid. Generally the term “income inequality” is used to highlight the difference in wages and salary for people while they’re working. Now, new data from the latest National Compensation Survey point to a different […]