Press Release

PRC Urges IRS to Protect Spouses
The Pension Rights Center (PRC) filed comments with the IRS/Treasury Department today urging the agency to strengthen – not weaken – critical legal protections for spouses’ retirement security. In its letter, PRC registered its strong disapproval of an IRS proposed rule that would eliminate the long-standing requirement that a spouse can only sign away their […]

PRC Receives $560,000 Cy Press Award
The Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to protecting and promoting retirement security, is grateful to have been designated as a recipient of a $560,000 cy pres award by the law firm Bailey & Glasser. A cy pres award allows for the distribution of leftover funds from the settlement of a lawsuit to […]

Butch Lewis Act saves Central States Pension Fund
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Pension Rights Center and thousands of retired truck drivers, warehouse workers and spouses across the country are celebrating the approval of an infusion of funds that will keep the Central States Pension Fund going strong for decades to come. The White House announced today that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) […]

PBGC Issues Final Guidance on Butch Lewis Act
For Immediate Release The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on July 8 released a long-awaited final rule implementing the Special Financial Assistance Program (SFA) under the Butch Lewis Emergency Penson Plan Relief Act (BLA). The BLA, passed in March 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, authorizes the U.S. Treasury Department to give […]

Karen Ferguson to Receive Honor from International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
For Immediate Release The Pension Rights Center is thrilled to announce that the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans will be giving its 2022 Public Service Award, posthumously, to Karen Ferguson, the Center’s beloved founder and former president, who died in December at age 80. The award will honor Karen for her lifetime of advocacy […]

Consumer Groups and Others to Launch Retirement-Security-For-All Call for Action
For Immediate Release Tomorrow, February 17th, the consumer advocacy organization the Pension Rights Center and other like-minded groups will be celebrating PRC’s 46th anniversary. They will also be celebrating the birthday of the Center’s late founder, Karen Ferguson, who died in late December. On this special day, PRC will be joined by Social Security Works […]

Local 707 retirees in New York on road to getting benefits restored due to Butch Lewis Act and PBGC
For Immediate Release Contact: Karen Friedman, 202-296-3776 The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the federal agency that backstops failing pension plans, recently announced some great news— that it has, for the fourth time in less than one month, approved financial assistance under the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension […]

The Pension Rights Center urges the IRS to protect retirement spousal rights
For Immediate Release Contact: Karen Friedman, 202-320-6518 The Pension Rights Center (PRC) sent a comment letter to the IRS in opposition to efforts to weaken spousal rights to retirement benefits. The Pension Rights Center has been a leading consumer voice working to protect the retirement security of workers, retirees […]

New Law Causes Musicians’ Pension Trustees to Rethink Benefit Cuts
For Immediate Release Contact: Karen Friedman, 202-320-6518 Tens of thousands of musicians— pianists, trumpeters, celloists, saxophonists and others— who were fighting cuts to their pensions are reaping immediate gains from the newly enacted Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act, which was passed as part of the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 aid package, known as the American […]

Musicians Paul Livant and Andy Snitzer Contribute “Service Award” to Pension Rights Center
Andy Snitzer and Paul Livant, the named plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the trustees of the American Federation of Musicians and Employers Pension Fund (AFM-EPF), received a service award of $10,000 each when that case settled. Rather than keep their awards, which compensated them for their time and the risks they took on, […]

Treasury Department rejects application by musicians’ pension fund to cut benefits – saving retirees’ pensions. Now it’s up to Congress to act!
Musicians across the country are cheering the U.S. Treasury Department’s decision Tuesday to reject the application filed by the Trustees of the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF) to reduce their benefits. The Pension Rights Center joined more than 180 retired musicians, who were facing 40 percent cuts, in urging the Treasury […]

Pension Rights Center Calls on Retirement Plan Participants to “Ask for Paper!” in Response to New Anti-Consumer Labor Department Disclosure Rule
In response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s new anti-consumer “notice-and-access” disclosure regulation that goes into effect today, the Pension Rights Center is urging workers and retirees to tell their pension and 401(k) plans that they want to continue receiving their key retirement information on paper – not just by getting a text or email […]