OP-ED: Why U.S. Supreme Court must stand up for retired Americans
Hospitals that masquerade as religiously affiliated institutions do their employees and themselves a grave disservice.
Hospital Pension Plans Seek Salvation at SCOTUS
The oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court over the ability of religiously affiliated hospitals to treat their pension plans as “church plans” amounted to a 60-minute catechism on statutory interpretation and legislative history.
Senate overturns rules to help cities offer retirement plans to workers
In a 50-49 vote, the Senate quashed Labor Department rules from the Obama administration that would have made it easier for cities to provide government-run retirement plans to private sector workers.
In absence of help from archdiocese, N.J. pensioners put faith in U.S. Supreme Court
While adversaries argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court last week, 79 people who once worked at St. James Hospital in Newark watched the clock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
PBGC girds for pending union plan catastrophe
Only one struggling multiemployer pension fund has landed on the doorstep of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. so far after failing to win Treasury Department approval to reduce benefits, but the agency’s dire financial condition has officials predicting painful cuts for more than 1 million multiemployer plan participants projected to need its help.
Devil in the Details as Justices Mull Church Pension Cases
The pension benefits of more than 300,000 hospital workers will be at stake when the U.S. Supreme Court convenes on March 27, and it’s anybody’s guess what the justices will want to discuss.
Speech by Karen Friedman at a meeting of the National Education Association Retirees’ Organization (March 8, 2017)
Hello NEA retirees! It’s great to be here! Thanks for inviting me this morning to speak. I’m Karen Friedman, the executive vice president and policy director of the Pension Rights Center. We are a national consumer organization that has been around since 1976, working to promote and improve retirement security for American workers and their […]
Threatened pension cuts will test Trump ties to U.S. Rust Belt voters
Karen Friedman has been traveling the country speaking at meetings of retired union members – and they are angry. What riles them is the prospect of deep cuts in promised pension benefits, and they are hoping for relief from President Donald Trump.
Bill to Rescind DOL Rule Extending Pension Coverage Sparks Fierce Debate
In a move that is sparking a firestorm of protest regarding the extension of retirement plans to uncovered workers, the US House of Representatives advanced two bills to overturn federal rules that would make it simpler for states to start individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for private-sector workers who do not have 401(k)s.
Teamsters face 31 percent pension cut
A total of 16,500 retirees, mostly in upstate New York with a few in New Jersey, are facing the cuts. Another 18,500 who are currently working would also be affected upon retirement.
Letter to U.S. Senate on Congressional Review Act resolutions to overturn the Department of Labor rule on “Savings Arrangements Established by States for Non-Governmental Employees”
The Pension Rights Center sent a letter to key leadership in the U.S. Senate urging senators to vote against two resolutions that would overturn the common-sense rule issued by the Department of Labor in 2016 to expand retirement savings opportunities for private-sector workers who are not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a traditional […]
About one million American workers have pension plans on verge of insolvency
Nearly one million working and retired Americans are currently covered by pension plans that are in imminent danger of insolvency, according to an organization trying to help people keep their retirement earnings.
