Iron Workers pension cuts approved; retirees to get smaller checks [View all]

[NWCorona]

Source: Cleveland

In a vote pitting current workers against retirees, the retirees in the Iron Workers Local 17 union in Cleveland lost.

Starting next week, their pension payments will shrink, some by half or more.

The Iron Workers Local 17 fund is the first pension fund to get Treasury Department approval for these kinds of cuts under congressional authority. Treasury rejected a similar request for a vote from a much larger fund, the Central States Pension Fund, after concluding its plan for post-voting survival was still risky

The size of the cuts depends on each worker. While the fund has said average cuts are about 20 percent, that includes those for workers who won't retire for years, when the fund is expected to be in better shape. The fund's current 336 retirees will see cuts of 30 percent to 60 percent, according to the Pension Rights Center, an advocacy group.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2017/01/iron_workers_pension_cuts_are.html

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I have a feeling that this will be more common in the future.