IBEW International President Stephenson Urges Members
To Contact Congress In Opposition To The GROW Act
In a letter dated July 23, 2020, President Lonnie Stephenson directed business managers and local officers to get the word out to IBEW members – multiemployer pension plans like ours are in jeopardy again, due to an act that is part of the new stimulus package in Congress.
To protect your pension, all members are asked to call your senators and representatives
to oppose the inclusion of the GROW Act in the upcoming stimulus bill.
Click here to find your representative or senators.
In his letter, President Stephenson explained “It is anticipated that the United States Congress and Trump Administration will consider a final pandemic stimulus bill in the coming weeks. One of our major concerns is the potential inclusion of the Give Retirement Options to Workers (GROW) Act, which would allow multiemployer pension trustees to divert contributions from an existing defined benefit multiemployer pension plan to a new composite plan with inferior benefits and not enough money to fund both plans. The GROW Act would subject workers and retirees to dramatic benefit cuts and allow employers to leave existing plans without paying their share of the plans’ liabilities.”
This fact sheet lays out a summary of concerns regarding the GROW Act. In addition, in a letter to the U.S. Congress, President Stephenson expressed the IBEW’s support for an alternative plan to assist ailing pension plans, the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act. A link to the letter is below, along with other resources on this issue.
You can contact the Political & Legislative Affairs Department at political@ibew.org if you have any questions.
Stephenson Letter To Congress On Multiemployer Pension Reform
Composite Plan Actuarial Study WCT July 2020