Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 2019)
PAGE 2 | July 19, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ...Butch Lewis Act clears key House committee From Page 1 (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Senior staff reporter: Don McIntosh Office manager: Jill Lukens Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $15 a year for union members, $23 a year for all others. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affiliation, if any. Group rates of 47 cents an issue per member — $11.28 a year are available for 25 or more subscriptions; call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 Pension Plan who fought to pro- tect retirees’ benefits before suc- cumbing to a stroke in Decem- ber of 2015 — the bill is widely supported by organized labor. It has 199 co-sponsors in the House, including all of Oregon’s Democratic delegation. Nine Republicans are cosponsors, but many more Republicans oppose it, calling it a “union bailout.” The bill would provide loans and other assistance to severely underfunded plans to enable them to protect retirees’ earned benefits, while giving plans 30 years to recover their losses and repay the loans. Money for the loans and the cost of running the program would come from the sale of Treasury-issued bonds to financial institutions, According to the National As- sociation of Plan Advisors, the Treasury Department would sell the bonds in the open market to large investors, such as financial institutions—and then lend the money from the sale of the bonds to the financially troubled plans. Sponsors of the legislation note that of the 1,400 multiem- ployer plans covering nearly 10 million people across the coun- try, about 1.3 million of them Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, speaks in favor of the Butch Lewis Pension Reform Act. are in plans that are quickly run- ning out of money. Among the troubled plans are Western States Office and Pro- fessional Employees Pension Fund (members of OPEIU Lo- cal 11), and Portland-based Plas- terers Local 82 Pension Plan. Both plans in recent months have cut their pension benefits for current and future retirees in order to save them from insol- vency. The OPEIU plan was cut 30% and Plasterers pension cuts ranged from 22% to 31%. The plans were allowed to do this un- der the 2014 Multi-employer Pension Reform Act, which was rammed through Congress with little debate. Ways & Means Committee chair Rep. Richard Neal (D- Mass.), and lead co-sponsor Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) refuted the GOP’s bailout charge at a press conference prior to the markup session on July 10. “This is not a bailout. What we are proposing is a back- stop—the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, which is used every day worldwide,” through Treasury bonds, Neal explained. “We will construct a structure, a rehabilitation agency, with minimal costs” to run the pension program.” Neal recollected his dealings with the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and ’90s, and the 2008 crash caused by large banks and Wall Street. “I was here for the S&L cri- sis,” he said. “That was a bailout. I was here for Wall Street. That was a bailout. They (executives) not only kept their jobs, but they got bonuses.” Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said “it’s time for the rest of Congress to follow suit and deliver for these hardwork- ing Americans who are paying, or have paid, into the pension pool and have played by the rules all their lives. Lawmakers need to show a united front when it comes to standing up for workers who make up the back- bone of this nation.” Republicans who are critical of the bill have yet to offer an al- ternative solution, despite spend- ing nearly all of 2018 working on the issue with Democrats as part of the Joint Select Commit- tee on Solvency of Multiem- ployer Pensions. The group was tasked by Congress to resolve the crisis, but lawmakers were unable to agree on a bill before Congress adjourned. THIS NEWSPAPER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY AMERICA’S LABOR MOVEMENT … AND BY OUR ADVERTISERS. LET THEM KNOW THEIR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! Low Prices! Coats, etc. Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6
