James M. Jeffords: “I am today introducing the Workers' Pension Protection Act. This legislation will level the playing field for millions…”

“I am today introducing the Workers' Pension Protection Act. This legislation will level the playing field for millions of American workers who currently participate in defined benefit multiemployer pension plans. As I am certain many of my colleagues are aware, there is a difference between multiemployer and single-employer pension plans. Multiemployer plans are maintained by a specific union, and supported by the various employers that union has organized, whereas single-employer plans are established by one company for its own employees. Thus, the Central States Teamsters pension fund covers individuals who work for employers the Teamsters have organized in the Midwestern United States. By contrast, General Electric has its a single-employer plan, or plans, that it established for its own employees. This bill is only concerned with multiemployer pension plans. It protects workers' benefits by making sure that multiemployer plans are funded so that benefits promised today will be available when workers retire in the future. Many of this country's multiemployer pension plans are underfunded by billions of dollars.”