Dear Sisters and Brothers:

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.

To help you and your members better understand the threat that composite plans pose to IBEW-sponsored multiemployer pensions, enclosed is a study recently published by the Western Conference of Teamsters on the main problems with composite plans and the GROW Act. Please feel free to share this report with your members and ask them to call their senators and congressmembers to oppose the inclusion of the GROW Act in the upcoming stimulus bill.

Fraternally yours,

Lonnie R. Stephenson

International President

For more information click GROW Act and Composite Plans