TAKE ACTION: “NO to GROW Act”
Include Emergency Pension Relief Act in Stimulus 4!
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, working people every day are demanding our elected leaders work together to do what is right to protect our health, our economy and our Country. As mentioned by Local 399 Political Coordinator Ed Duffy at our Digital Town Hall on April 28th, there is another Federal Stimulus Bill in the works, H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act. This “HEROES” Act includes an emergency workplace infectious disease standard; gives aid for state and local governments, public schools, the U.S. Postal Service, and pension relief; keeps workers on payrolls to avoid mass layoffs; extends unemployment insurance; provides more direct payments to working people; extends health care coverage; and provides housing and food benefits, and much more.
There is a lot of relief that this proposed legislation could provide to working people everywhere should it pass, however embedded within this legislation is one extremely devastating measure to multi-employer pension plans, called the GROW Act. The GROW Act is opposed by numerous Unions, pension plan participants and retirees, AARP, and the Pension Rights Center. What all of these worker and retiree representatives and experts understand is that the GROW Act hurts workers and retirees and should not become law and should be removed from the ‘HEROES Act’. The GROW Act would allow multi-employer plan trustees to “refinance ” their obligations to workers and retirees in the existing plan over 25 years instead of 15 years, the trustees must then divert that money to start a new composite plan. In this way, composite plans rob Peter to pay Paul. This leaves neither plan-the existing plan nor the composite plan-with enough money to pay promised benefits.
Our representatives in the US House and Senate need to hear from us NOW!
Help us flood congressional offices with emails demanding action to protect pensions and remove the “GROW Act” from the ‘HEROES Act”.
While we applaud the efforts to ensure working families are protected by many of the included provisions within the “HEROES Act”, hard working Union Members under multi-employer Pensions should not have to suffer in order to receive the Federal support they deserve during this devastating global pandemic.
By removing the “Grow Act” we are able to confidently stand behind this legislation and the support and relief it would provide our Members struggling during this time. This could go to a vote as early as as Friday (tomorrow) this week. Please make your voice heard NOW and tell your representative to REMOVE the GROW Act from the “HEROES” Act.
