Many multi-employer pension plans — including those associated with the IBEW — have stabilized following the financial crisis that began in 2008. However, a minority of plans, covering about one million total participants, face serious funding problems and could run out of money within the next five years. In addition, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) — essentially the safety net for troubled plans — expects its multi-employer insurance program to run out of money within the same five-year period.

It's a daunting situation and we all made great sacrifices to address pension funding.

At the same time, last year an attempt was made to address this shortfall with a brutal system of new taxes and imposed regulations on existing multi-employer pension plans that aimed to address the PBGC insolvency and its ability to provide retirement benefits for current and future retirees in the critical and declining plans. This proposal shifted the economic failures onto healthy plans. With your help, that proposal was defeated.

Now, here we are again with a new raid on our pensions, this time coming from the Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee. This dangerous plan would impose significant new fees on healthy pension funds, their participants and the entire industry, penalizing plans that have already made sacrifices to ensure their long-term solvency.

IBEW 1141 joins our brother and sister unions in our Retirement Security Working Group in communicating our strong and vociferous opposition to this proposal. We will continue to fight and we need your voice! This call to action is in the best interests of you and your family and will make sure the views of our members are heard. As we continue to monitor and address the situation, it is important to use our collective strength.  

We ask you to please call and write to your elected representatives and tell them what this could mean for you and your family. Just click on the button labeled "Start Writing".

Talking points that you can use to customize your letter and let legislators know you will be watching these deliberations closely will be displayed after you click that button.