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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
Keeping the
Promise of a Secure Retirement
Last week, I met with Rita Lewis of West Chester, in Butler County.
Rita was in Washington to testify in front of the Senate Finance
Committee in honor of her late husband, Butch. Butch worked as a
trucker for 40 years with the promise that the pension he earned would
be there to care for his family after he retired. But for Butch and
Rita and thousands more Ohio retirees, that promise is under threat. A
law Congress passed two years ago allows pension trustees to propose
massive cuts to the earned benefits of retirees when a plan is running
low on funds.
This is disgraceful. If a pension fund is in bad shape, it’s our job to
fix it — not to break our promises to Ohioans who have worked their
whole lives to earn that pension. I believed that two years ago when I
voted against the law that allowed these proposed cuts, and I believe
it now.
That’s why I have introduced two bills — the Miners Protection Act and
the Keep Our Pension Promises Act — that would protect the benefits
Ohio workers earned over a lifetime of work. And it's why I am calling
on the Treasury to immediately reject the proposed cuts to the Central
States Teamsters pension.
Ohio retirees whose pensions are under threat are part of so-called
multi-employer pensions, including retired coalminers and truckers. The
United Mine Workers of America’s 1974 pension plan was almost
completely funded before the financial collapse in 2008, but the plan
is now in bad shape, putting the health care and benefits of retirees
in jeopardy. The 1974 plan covers more than 100,000 mineworkers,
including thousands of Ohioans. Another 47,000 Ohioans, who are
Teamsters, are also part of the the Central States Pension Fund and
facing a similar crisis.
Miners worked underground their entire lives to put food on the table,
send their kids to college, and help power this country. Truckers
crisscrossed the state and the country to pay the bills, support their
families, and drive our economy forward. They deserve the full pension
and health benefits they were promised, and that they worked a lifetime
to earn.
Butch Lewis led the Southwest Retirees Pension Committee’s fight
against cuts to their earned benefits. He passed away on New Year’s Eve
due to a stroke, which doctors have attributed, at least in part, to
the stress he faced over the proposed pension cuts. Rita’s widow
benefits have already been cut and she faces an additional 40 percent
reduction because of the proposed cuts put forth by Central States.
Butch said the cuts being forced on retirees amount to a war against
the middle class and the American Dream — and he’s right. Ohio’s
retired workers have earned their pensions and retirement savings over
a lifetime of hard work — whether it’s behind a desk, on the factory
floor, down in coalmines or behind the wheel.
We should honor Butch’s memory by continuing his work. That means
coming together to support a bipartisan solution to protect Rita’s
benefits and the pensions of tens of thousands of Ohio retirees.
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