Almost 11,000 Pennsylvania workers and retirees’ pensions will be protected
Pension plan secures retirement for food and commercial workers
President Biden credited Casey’s work to protect pensions
American Rescue Plan has saved the pensions of more than 65,000 workers and retirees in PA-based plans
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that the pensions of almost 11,000 Pennsylvania grocery store workers and retirees from United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 152 will be protected, thanks to the American Rescue Plan. Casey voted to pass the American Rescue Plan, which has saved the pensions of more than 65,000 Pennsylvanians to date. The UFCW Employers Tri-State Pension Plan (UFCW Tri-State Plan) will receive approximately $684.4 million from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBCC) to save 10,934 Pennsylvania workers and retirees’ pensions. Without this fix, workers and retirees’ pension plans would have run out of money by 2028 and their benefits would have been subject to a 15 percent cut and a federal takeover at taxpayer expense.
“Workers are the backbone of our Commonwealth and thanks to the American Rescue Plan, tens of thousands of families can continue relying on their pensions without worrying that their plans may be cut,” said Senator Casey. “I fought for this fix because I know how critical pensions are to the futures of thousands of Pennsylvania families, and how scary it was for those families to face the possibility of the rug being pulled out from underneath them. I will always fight to ensure workers and retirees’ hard-earned benefits are theirs to keep.”
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced approximately $684.4 million in relief to the UFCW Tri-State Plan, which is based in Plymouth Meeting, PA. Workers in this plan include employees and retirees of Acme Markets and other stores. In total, 29,233 workers and retirees’ pensions will be saved. This is the eighth Pennsylvania-based pension plan that has received relief; others include the Western Pennsylvania Teamsters and Employers Pension Fund, the Carpenters Industrial Council Eastern PA Pension Plan, the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia Pension Plan, IUE-CWA Pension Plan, the National Integrated Group Pension Plan, which includes United Steelworkers and United Auto Workers, and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union.
The funding comes from the PBGC’s Special Financial Assistance program, which was created by the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan passed the Senate by a vote of 50-49, and the House of Representatives by a vote of 220-211. No Republican Member of Congress voted in support of the law.
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