This Wednesday, July 14th, the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Education and the Workforce Committee are set to approve legislation that would outlaw partial terminations of multiemployer plans. The provision is Section 513 of H.R. 1102, the Portman-Cardin Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act.

We have been told that Robert Georgine, President of the Building and Construction Trades Unions has gotten committments from most if not all of the Democrats on the two committees to vote for H.R. 1102, EVEN THOUGH this provision and most of the rest of its 62 provisions cut back protections for workers (it even eliminates automatic distribution of the Summary Annual Report (the one-page overview that tells workers how well their money is being invested), and provide whopping increases in benefits for company executives and other high-paid employees.

Georgine apparently sees this industry tax give-away bill as an easy way of getting his provisions through, even though the industry provisions (and his partial termination provision ) will hurt his members.(The provision he says he cares most about is one that would let participants in multiemployer plans get $130,000 a year in pension benefits!!!)

Who says organized labor has lost its clout?

The best thing that could happen is if as many of your web site readers as possible flood their representatives offices with phone calls asking them to ask their colleagues on the Ways and Means and Education and the Workforce to vote against Section 513 of H.R. 1102 on Wednesday.

Karen Ferguson
Pension Rights Center
Washington, D.C