PAGE 6 | May 19, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Workers rally to back
national pension legislation
By Barb Kucera
Press Associates Inc.
Millions of Americans who de-
pend on multi-employer pen-
sion plans for their retirement
security would benefit from fed-
eral legislation introduced May
9 to make sure their pension is
there when they need it.
The new bill would attempt
to restore the financial health of
multi-employer pension plans
— which are common in indus-
tries such as trucking, grocery,
and entertainment.
The bill’s original author,
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) —
who also introduced it in the last
Congress — said it could save
the pensions of up to 10 million
workers the multi-employer
plans cover.
“We have got to send a very
loud and clear message to the
Republican leadership in Con-
gress and the president of the
United States. When a promise
is made to the working people
of this country with respect to
their pensions and retiree health
benefits, that promise cannot be
broken,” Sanders said. “If Con-
gress could bail out Wall Street
and foreign banks throughout
the world, we certainly can pro-
tect the pension benefits of
American workers.”
To show support for the
measure, members of Min-
nesota Pension Rights and of the
Teamsters — whose multi-em-
ployer Central States Pension
Fund faces insolvency — organ-
ized a rally at the state Capitol
in St. Paul. It coincided with
similar events nationwide and a
D.C. news conference with
Sanders, Sen. Al Franken (D-
Minn.), and Machinists Presi-
dent Bob Martinez that unveiled
the Keep Our Pension Promises
Act of 2017.
Franken knows what it is like
to be in a multi-employer pen-
sion plan, having been a mem-
ber of the Writers Guild and
SAG-AFTRA unions during his
career in entertainment.
“These agreements should
mean something,” Franken said.
“That’s all we’re talking about
here — live up to your agree-
ment … If you care about the
working men and women of this
country, then you will want
them to have secure retirements,
and that means honoring their
pensions.”
“Too many Americans have
already had their earned retire-
ments ripped away from them
through no fault of their own.
Where I’m from in Texas, we
call that highway robbery,”
Martinez told the D.C. news
conference.
Besides the Americans cov-
ered by multi-employer pension
“If Congress could bail
out Wall Street and for-
eign banks throughout
the world, we certainly
can protect the pension
benefits of American
workers.”
— U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders
(I-Vermont)
plans, 30 million more are in
single-employer pensions. The
Pension Benefit Guaranty Cor-
poration (PBGC) oversees and
insures both.
In 2014, Congress changed
the rules, allowing struggling
pension plans to cut workers’
promised benefits now, with ap-
proval from the U.S. Treasury
Department, to keep the plans
solvent later. Some of the
400,000 workers and retirees
covered by the Teamsters Cen-
tral States Pension Fund faced
cuts of 50 percent or more.
Treasury rejected the planned
Central States cuts. Retirees de-
pending on that plan have been
spared — for now. But the long-
term future of the Teamsters’
benefits remains in doubt.
Treasury has also rejected sev-
eral other multi-employer plans
that wanted to cut present bene-
fits to preserve future solvency.
It called their proposals inade-
quate.
But it approved cutting the
pensions for beneficiaries of
Iron Workers Local 17 in Cleve-
land. Two-thirds of voters there
agreed to cut their present bene-
fits in order to keep the plan sol-
vent beyond 2024. The plan
covers 1,938 people, and just
under half voted, the union said.
[Treasury is currently review-
ing a proposal submitted by the
Western States Pension Plan of
Office and Professional Em-
ployees, which would impact
Vancouver-based Local 11.]
The Keep Our Pension Prom-
ises Act would boost funding for
the PBGC so it can keep the
promises made to pensioners,
by closing two tax loopholes
used by the wealthiest Ameri-
cans. It is currently the only leg-
islative solution to the multi-em-
ployer pension crisis, Franken’s
office said.
Participants at the rally in St.
Paul welcomed the federal leg-
islation. U.S. Reps. Keith Elli-
son, Rick Nolan and Tim Walz,
all Minnesota Democrats,
joined them.
“It’s something you negoti-
ated on in good faith, with the
assumption and the belief that it
would be there when you
needed it,” Walz, a union
teacher, said. “Keep in mind —
that bailout that happened on
Wall Street put the pressure on
these pensions. While we were
there as taxpayers to ensure our
financial system was supported,
we need to be there to make sure
our workers are supported.”
Ellison urged people to keep
up the heat, saying action “will
send a signal throughout Min-
nesota and the United States that
you cannot mess around with
people’s pensions that they have
worked for their whole life.”
Nolan said the threat to
worker pensions is yet another
example of “a system that is
rigged to help the few at the ex-
pense of the many. It calls and
begs and demands for change!”
The three, along with Rep.
Betty McCollum and Sen. Amy
Klobuchar, both Democrats
from Minnesota, who could not
attend the rally, pledged their
support for the Keep Our Pen-
sion Promises Act. Other back-
ers include Sens. Claire Mc-
Caskill (D-Mo.), Tammy
Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Sherrod
Brown (D-Ohio), Reps. Marcy
Kaptur and Tim Ryan, both D-
Ohio, and Debbie Dingell (D-
Mich.), and both Democratic
U.S. Senators from Michigan
and Rhode Island.
“A secure retirement is a cen-
tral pillar of economic security
for our working class. The Keep
Our Pensions Promise Act ends
a loophole and tax break for the
wealthy so we can protect the
retirement security families
have worked for, planned for
and depend on,” Baldwin said.
Who’s on our side?
By Tom Chamberlain Oregon AFL-CIO President
Investing in transportation
benefits working people
E
very day another 80 people move to the Portland metro
area. Oregon’s population has grown by over 275,000
in the last six years. Whether you live in Bend, Medford,
Eugene or Portland, our roads are approaching capacity. A
15 minute daily commute in 2012 is now 20 to 30 minutes
— and growing longer. In Portland, the I-5 curves, 217, I-
205 and I-5 at the Coliseum are major traffic choke points
— not to mention the 100-year-old I-5 Interstate Bridge
between Portland and Vancouver that can back up traffic
for miles. Any disruption or accident or construction can
easily double commute time. Not only are our roads at near
capacity, they are in disrepair due to lack of maintenance
and increased use by a ballooning population.
Tire-pounding pot holes not only dot our side streets, but
are now invading main thoroughfares, highways and inter-
state routes. Thirty-four percent of Clackamas County
roads are rated at poor or worse. The average lifespan of
an asphalt road is 26 years. Ongoing maintenance can al-
most double their lifetime, but we must invest in that main-
tenance to get the most out of our roads.
Damaged roads mean damaged vehicles, which is driv-
ing up costs for working people just trying to get to their
jobs each day. Congested roads mean that businesses are
spending more on fuel and drivetime, which can increase
the cost of the goods we buy at grocery stores. That’s mov-
ing our economy in the wrong direction, and it’s time to
take action.
After a failed attempt at increasing transportation fund-
ing during the 2015 Oregon Legislature, two Democrats
and two Republican leaders (Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Eugene;
Rep. Caddy McKeown, D-Coos Bay; Sen. Brian Boquist,
R-Dallas; and Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario) have brought
forth a transportation package that will invest $8.2 billion
into Oregon’s transportation infrastructure over the next
decade. Our lawmakers spent over a year developing this
bipartisan plan. They traveled across the state listening to
the concerns of Oregonians who spoke up about unsafe
road conditions, the need for public transit expansion, and
concerns over ever-increasing commute times. In both ru-
ral and urban communities across the state, it’s clear there
is work to do — and that work will help move our econ-
omy forward.
Proposed projects are outlined for almost every Oregon
county. That means across the state, over the next 10 years,
we have a real opportunity to create jobs, ease compressive
choke points, and improve transportation infrastructure.
Unless our Legislature takes action, transportation choke
points in the Portland metro area will continue to drive up
costs for farmers, manufacturers, and businesses across Ore-
gon. Unless the transportation package is approved during
this legislative session, the increased commute times, which
impact both workers and businesses, will only get worse.
Oregon’s union movement can step into the driver’s seat
to make sure this important proposal makes it through our
Legislature. Whether you are in Klamath Falls, Ontario,
Astoria or Portland, our legislators need to hear from union
members who are ready to see real investment in Oregon’s
transportation infrastructure.
Call your legislator, send them an email, or schedule a
meeting and tell them that transportation funding is im-
portant to you and your community. To find out who rep-
resents you and how to contact them, head to
oraflcio.org/salem.
Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, a 130,000-member-
strong federation of labor unions.