New Hampshire Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan this week announced new action by the Biden-Harris administration to restore and protect the pensions of more than 72,000 Teamsters across New England, including over 6,000 in New Hampshire.
This initiative is part of the provisions in the 2021 American Rescue Plan. The announcement was made alongside White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling and members of Teamsters Local 633 in Manchester.
Teamsters Local 633 represents Anheuser-Busch brewery workers, UPS employees, warehouse workers, freight drivers, police departments, correctional officers, court security officers, public works employees, airport maintenance sheriffs’ deputies and dispatchers, power plant and beer distribution workers, among many other diverse fields of workers in New Hampshire.
“Before the American Rescue Plan was enacted, Teamsters across New England faced unacceptable, steep cuts to their hard-earned retirement benefits,” said Sen. Shaheen. “Now, Teamsters and retirees across the region can breathe a sigh of relief as they plan their financial futures knowing that their benefits are secure thanks to Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration. I look forward to continuing our work to strengthen our unions, middle class, and working families.”
The effort is the result of The Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Relief Act, which was included in the American Rescue Plan. The act will preserve and restore the pensions of retirees and workers in an estimated 200 to 225 severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans, including the New England Teamsters Pension Fund.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s recent action will provide $5.7 billion to the New England Teamsters Pension Fund, preventing proposed changes that would have increased the retirement age for covered workers and resulted in a 60% overall cut in benefits.
“It was great to join Teamsters and the Biden-Harris Administration today to announce this important investment that prevents cuts to the pensions of more than 6,000 Granite State union workers,” said Sen. Hassan.
“Union members work hard throughout their entire careers with the expectation that the pension they paid into will be waiting for them when they retire – and when that was put into jeopardy, my colleagues and I worked with the Administration to pass legislation that protects the ability of union workers to retire with dignity. In America, we believe that if you work hard, you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead, and this investment safeguards that promise.”
Gene Sperling, White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator, emphasized the significance of this action: “President Biden and Vice President Harris consider the historic protection of union pension plans to be one of the crown jewels of the American Rescue Plan. They know that these workers not only earned these pensions over decades of work but they often sacrificed wages to make sure they had a pension that would provide them with a dignified retirement. Thanks to President Biden and Vice President Harris’s Rescue Plan, that promise will be preserved and protected.”
