PBGC Just Announced Nearly $2.4 Billion Will Go To 4 Underfunded Union Pensions
So far, $57 billion in taxpayer monies have been spent to bail out underfunded union pensions.
By Peter List, Editor | June 21, 2024
Correction: Earlier, this post's title stated ‘nearly $2.3 billion.’ The actual amount is $2,393,400,000, or nearly $2.4 billion. The title has been changed to reflect this.
On Thursday, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced that it had approved the bailouts of four underfunded union pension plans totaling nearly $2.4 billion.
Of the nearly $2.4 billion, the largest payments of taxpayer dollars will go to a grocery union pension and a printers’ union (which is now part of the Teamsters).
From largest amounts to smallest:
According to the PBGC, the United Food and Commercial Workers Unions and Employers Midwest Pension Plan (UFCW Midwest Pension Plan), which is based in Rosemont, Illinois, and covers 35,223 participants in the service industry, will receive approximately $1.2 billion in special financial assistance (SFA).
The GCIU1-Employer Retirement Benefit Plan (GCIU-Employer Plan), which is based in Seattle, Washington and covers 40,373 participants in the printing industry, will receive approximately $913.5 million in special financial assistance (SFA), the PBGC announced.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store International Union and Industry Pension Plan (Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Pension Plan), which is based in Birmingham, Alabama, and covers 21,079 participants nationwide in the food processing, retail, and manufacturing industries, will receive approximately $261 million in special financial assistance (SFA), announced the PBGC.
The PBGC also announced that the Pacific Coast Shipyards Pension Plan (Pacific Coast Shipyards Plan), which is based in Pleasanton, California, and covers 507 participants in the maritime construction industry, will receive approximately $18.9 million in special financial assistance (SFA).
According to the PBGC announcements, payments to the underfunded pension plans will include interest to the expected payment date to the plan.
“As of June 20, 2024, PBGC has announced approval of about $57 billion in SFA to plans that cover about 915,000 workers, retirees, and beneficiaries,” the PBGC stated. “Special financial assistance for financially troubled multiemployer plans is financed by general taxpayer monies.”
Go here for prior posts about the PBGC’s taxpayer-funded pension bailouts.
The GCIU stands for Graphic Communications International Union. The Graphic Communications International Union merged with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) in 2005.