SCHUMER ANNOUNCES UPSTATE NY’S OPERATING ENGINEERS UNION PENSION FUND TO RECEIVE WHOPPING $85+ MILLION IN FED SUPPORT, RESTORING AT-RISK PENSIONS FOR ALMOST 6,500 UNION WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES – THANKS TO SCHUMER’S AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
Upstate NY’s International Union Of Operating Engineers, Representing Thousands Of Construction Workers, Were Victims Of A Pension System That Collapsed – Meaning, Without Action, After A Lifetime Of Hard Work And Playing By the Rules, Many Could Not Retire Or Would Have No Pension Benefits Remaining
As Schumer’s First Major Act As Majority Leader, He Secured Pension Fix So Union Members Could Get Hard-Earned Pensions & Relief They Need And Earned
Schumer: Upstate NY Union Operating Engineers & Families Can Breathe Sigh Of Relief With The Restored Pensions They Rightfully Earned
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today announced that, after years of advocacy to secure relief for ailing multiemployer pension plans for union workers, Upstate NY’s International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Fund covering union construction engineers from Buffalo to Syracuse to Albany and across Upstate NY will receive an approximately $85.5 million pension-fix from the Schumer-sponsored American Rescue Plan. The federal relief will restore full pension benefits for over 6,400 union workers and their families across upstate from Buffalo to the Capital Region.
“Upstate New York’s operating engineers union members work hard every day to ensure our buildings, roads, highways, and bridges are safe. These are the men and women who operate heavy equipment, like bulldozers, backhoes and graders on construction sites, who worked hard, played by the rules and paid into pension plans that – through no fault of their own – were at-risk of being drastically cut or even completely disappearing. So I’m very proud to deliver over $85 million in federal relief to help almost 6,500 union construction workers across Upstate ensure their hard-earned pension benefits remain intact for many years into the future and ensure they can retire after a lifetime of hard work,” said Senator Schumer. “I made sure as my first act as Majority Leader to pass the American Rescue Plan with a key provision to deliver the pension relief to our union brothers and sister and their families they have desperately needed.”
Schumer said the Syracuse-based IUOE Upstate New York Engineers Fund, which approximately 6,400+ workers in the construction industry, will receive approximately $85.5 million in special financial assistance. SFA will enable the plan to continue to pay retirement benefits without reduction for many years into the future.
Schumer explained that after the 2008 financial crash, many union workers’ in multiemployer pension plans were in danger of collapse due to out-of-control speculation on Wall Street. Multiemployer plans are created through agreements between employers and a union, with plans typically involving multiple employers in a single industry or related industries. Countless families and workers faced the prospect of losing out on retirement savings – through no fault of their own.
Senator Schumer fought to include the Butch Lewis Act in the American Rescue Plan – securing pension solvency in his very first major bill as majority leader. Before the American Rescue Plan over 200 multiemployer plans were on pace to become insolvent in the near term, risking benefits for millions of workers and their families. The law created the Special Financial Assistance program administered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to protect benefits for millions of workers, reverse harsh pension cuts, and put existing plans on a path to solvency through 2051. To date, the program has provided billions in federal assistance to support thousands of construction industry workers.
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