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Union pension funds trigger congressional rescue efforts

CQ Budget, ep. 146

Teamsters listen to Massachusetts Rep. Richard E. Neal speak about efforts to save pensions in South Boston on Jan. 24, 2018. The promise of a monthly pension check, once considered ironclad, is now in doubt for more than a million retirees and older workers nationwide, including tens of thousands in Massachusetts and neighboring states. Their underfunded pension plans are creeping toward insolvency, putting benefits they earned over the course of a career at risk of being cut or even eliminated.
Teamsters listen to Massachusetts Rep. Richard E. Neal speak about efforts to save pensions in South Boston on Jan. 24, 2018. The promise of a monthly pension check, once considered ironclad, is now in doubt for more than a million retirees and older workers nationwide, including tens of thousands in Massachusetts and neighboring states. Their underfunded pension plans are creeping toward insolvency, putting benefits they earned over the course of a career at risk of being cut or even eliminated. (Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images file photo)
By David Lerman and Micaela Rodríguez
Posted March 2, 2020 at 5:00am

The Teamsters union’s largest pension fund is famous for appearing as a cash cow for mobsters in movies, most recently “The Irishman,” but the reality is the fund is running out of money. CQ Roll Call reporter Doug Sword joins the podcast to explain why the shrinking fund and its federal backstop’s projected insolvency have lawmakers on both sides of the aisle working to find a solution.

Show notes:

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