Teamsters Vice
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President John Murphy says his union is working with Congress to try to resolve problems with the Central States Pension plan because the problems it faces are also faced by other defined benefit pension plans nationwide. A law passed by Congress in 2014 allows multi-employer pensions plans in crisis to cut retiree benefits. But when Central States submitted a plan to do that to the U.S. Treasury department, it was rejected—saving retirees from cuts but still not resolving the underfunding problem.
“Treasury’s rejection of the application was in large part based upon the public comments that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters had submitted in December of ‘15 and March of 2016. But we recognize that a lot more remains to be done. Most notably that we have to come up with a way to solve the negative cash flow issue that Central States and other pension plans face. So we’re working very, very hard and will continue to work hard with Congress in devising new ways to come up with money to solve the pension plan,” Murphy said.