NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | February 3, 2017 | PAGE 7
Retired Cleveland Iron Workers first to see pension cuts
Retirees in the Cleveland Iron
Workers Local 17 Pension Fund
are the first pensioners in the
country to see cuts to their re-
tirement benefits as a result of
the Multiemployer Pension Re-
form Act (MPRA).
Congress passed MPRA late
in 2014 as an amendment to a
bill to continue funding for the
federal government. It received
almost no debate. The law
opened the door for trustees of
severely distressed multiem-
ployer pension plans to reduce
benefits for current and future
retirees—if doing so could save
the plan from future insolvency.
Changes must be approved by
the U.S. Treasury Department.
In a post on Local 17’s web
site, trustees said participants
“saved themselves by imple-
menting benefit cuts now to
avoid the projected insolvency
in 2024.”
The plan put forth by labor
and management trustees of the
Iron Workers Local 17 pension
fund reduces accrued benefits
and eliminates early retirement
subsidies and extra benefit cred-
its. Trustees said the average
cuts are about 20 percent, but
that includes workers who are
years away from retirement.
Roughly 336 current retirees
will experience cuts of 30 to 60
percent, according to the Pen-
sion Rights Center (PRC), an
advocacy group.
Out of 1,938 eligible voters,
616 voted in favor of the cuts
and 320 voted against. Another
1,002 current and former work-
ers in the fund didn’t vote. Un-
der MPRA rules, the uncast
votes were counted as approv-
ing the cuts.
The vote was administered by
the Treasury Department.
The cuts went into effect
Feb. 1.
According to PRC, eight
other pension plans have ap-
plied to the Treasury Depart-
Seniors disconnected from White House
Early in January, the Alliance for
Retired Americans announced a
“National Medicare, Medicaid
& Social Security Call-In Day”
for Jan. 23. The purpose was to
send a message to newly-elected
President Donald Trump, telling
him to keep his campaign prom-
ise of not cutting Social Security,
Medicare or Medicaid.
Jan. 23 arrived, but when sen-
ior citizens across the country
called the White House com-
ments line at 202-456-1111, they
were met with a recorded mes-
sage.
“The comment line is cur-
rently closed, but your comment
is important to the president.”
The recording then instructs
callers to send comments online
at www.whitehouse.gov, or by
Facebook messenger.
According to the Pew Re-
search Center, 41 percent of
Americans 65 and older do not
have Internet access.
“How are seniors suppose to
get their message heard?” asked
Scott Blau, president of the Ore-
gon chapter of the Alliance for
Retired Americans.
Some media reported that the
White House plans to get the
phone line back up soon, though
there is no confirmed time line.
At press time, the comment line
was still closed. Moreover,
Trump’s White House Facebook
account didn’t have Messenger
installed.
ment to cut retiree pension ben-
efits. Four applications were de-
nied and four others — impact-
ing more than 71,000 workers
— are in various stages of re-
view by the Treasury Depart-
ment. Another 70 plans are in
“critical and declining” status
and are eligible to make cuts.
THOMAS, COON,
NEWTON & FROST
THOMAS, COON,
NEWTON & FROST
Under the Obama Adminis-
tration, the White House used a
team of volunteers to accept
comments from callers.
Jill Alcantar
360.787.6975