Dive Brief:
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Two major construction groups have endorsed congressional legislation to allow multiemployer pension plans to cut some of the benefits of its vested members, but it faces union opposition.
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The Associated General Contractors of America and the National Electrical Contractors Association supported the bill, which both houses of Congress have approved. Several unions, including those that organize building trades, operating engineers, and plumbing and pipe fitters, also backed the measure.
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More than 3 million unionized construction workers and retirees are covered by multiemployer pensions, which sponsors said are underfunded and in danger of default.
Dive Insight:
Not all construction groups favored the bill, which was designed to overhaul the multiemployer pension system.
Terry O'Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, said a law allowing the funds to cut benefits would “rob millions of dollars from workers’ pensions to keep the struggling Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. on life support.” The measure would double the annual premiums that plans pay to that agency per member.