WHEREAS, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been in the forefront of promoting and protecting the retirement security of American workers, retirees and their families; and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union and Teamster affiliated pension funds have provided good benefits that have enabled Teamsters to live in retirement with dignity and financial security; and

WHEREAS, the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was enacted to provide assurances that plan sponsors could not simply renege on pension promises made to plan participants and beneficiaries; and

WHEREAS, for more than 40 years the law prevented ongoing pension plans from unilaterally cutting retiree’s promised benefits; and

WHEREAS, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters believes the federal government, including the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, has an obligation to protect the retirement security of workers covered by defined benefit plans under ERISA; and

WHEREAS, it was failures in government regulation and oversight that paved the way for two severe financial market collapses (2000 and 2008) that devastated the assets of many pension plans including the Central States Pension Fund; and

WHEREAS, Congress, in the dead of night, without vetting and without debate, passed the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) as part of a massive omnibus spending bill, which eliminated ERISA’s core protections against forfeiture and reductions of accrued benefits; and

WHEREAS, amending ERISA to eviscerate the promise of a defined benefit pension is a dramatic assault by the federal government on America’s middle class; and

WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of Teamster members are participants in plans that could be affected by draconian cuts permitted by MPRA; and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union vigorously opposed, and continues to oppose, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act; and

WHEREAS, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters called for the rejection of the Central States Pension Fund application to U.S. Department of the Treasury to cut retiree benefits, and has to the fullest extent, participated in Treasury’s comment and review process, filing comments and testifying at hearings, and has conducted extensive education activities for Congress about the real life ramifications of the proposed benefit cuts on retirees and the serious flaws and deficiencies in the Central States Pension Fund application and has urged members of Congress to call on Treasury to reject the application; and

WHEREAS, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters opposes the reduction of retiree pension benefits and the cutting of accrued normal retirement benefits of active members; and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union understands that any federal legislative effort to aid troubled multiemployer pension plans requires the participation and support of members and retirees. Therefore, local unions are encouraged to keep their members and retirees informed and educated about the funding crisis that confronts multiemployer pension plans and the reasons for such crisis; and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union has worked to build support for and pass the Keep Our Pension Promises Act and the Pension Accountability Act that would provide alternative solutions to cutting promised benefits to Teamster members and retirees; and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union is exploring creative concepts that would open up sources of capital from the private sector to fund troubled pension plans; and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union is building political and financial support for new approaches to address the funding crises affecting both multi-employer and single- employer pension funds.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED at this 29th Convention of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that the Union will continue its work to:

• Protect the retirement security of Teamster members and retirees;
• Engage political leaders, financial institutions and regulatory agencies to find creative and enduring solutions that strengthen Teamster affiliated pension funds;
• Repeal the provisions of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act which confer unprecedented power to “suspend” (i.e. permanently reduce) pension benefits of plan participants;
• Pass the Keep Our Pension Promises Act;
• Pass the Pension Accountability Act; and
• Resolve the retirement security crisis in America