Teamsters rally against proposed pension cuts

Teamsters union members.
Teamsters union members and supporters rallied in front of the State Capitol to protest proposed pension cuts.
Solvejg Wastvedt | MPR News

About a hundred members of the Teamsters union rallied at the state Capitol Saturday to oppose proposed pension cuts. The cuts are part of a plan to rescue one of the country's major multi-employer pension plans because it's running out of money.

Some teamsters say they could lose half of their benefits under the proposed plan.

Retiree Ron Kratlow of Deerwood worked as a Teamster for 41 years. He wants the federal government to save the fund. "The government bailed out the banks and the car dealers, and our pension was supposed to be guaranteed by the federal government. And that's what we're fighting for, we want our pension back, we want full pension, we earned it," he said.

The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which was co-written by Minnesota Congressman John Kline, permits pension cuts to avoid bankrupting the federal agency that insures pensions. Kline said in a statement that retirees would face "even greater financial hardship" without the law. "The steps we've taken will help ensure these retirees are better off than if Congress had simply done nothing, he said.

The U.S. Treasury is considering the plan. If approved, cuts would take effect this summer.

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