Following $36 Billion Teamsters' Pension Bailout, PBGC Announces Bailouts For 7 More Failing Union Pensions
On Friday, following President Joe Biden’s announcement Thursday of a $36 billion bailout of a failing Teamsters pension plan, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced that it had approved applications for over $3.5 billion of taxpayer-funded bailouts be given to seven different union pension funds.
“The program will provide an estimated $74 to $91 billion in assistance to enable eligible multiemployer plans to pay retirement benefits without reduction for many years into the future.” — PBGC
While four of the recipients are Teamster pension funds, the other three recipients include a Bricklayers pension plan, an Ironworkers’ pension plan, as well as a plan for grocery workers.
Although each press release (linked below) was similarly worded, the PBCG stated that, as of December 9, 2022, PBGC has approved nearly $45.4 billion to plans that cover over 550,000 workers, retirees, and beneficiaries.
The moneys provided to underfunded union pension plans—also known as multi-employer pension plans—were part of a $90 billion union pension bailout that was included in the $1.5 trillion American Rescue Plan President Biden signed into law last year.
“There were over 200 multiemployer plans on pace to become insolvent risking benefits for millions of workers and their families,” noted LaborPress.org last month.
Below are the links to each press release, as well as the amounts given to each plan.