Long Branch, NJ – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today applauded a decision by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to approve Special Financial Assistance (SFA) Program funding for workers from the Bakery Drivers Local 194. The pension plan will receive $111 million, which will protect the pension benefits of 1,155 participants and their families. Funding for SFA comes from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) that President Biden signed into law in 2021, which allows financially troubled multiemployer plans to apply for assistance through the PBGC.
“Last Congress, Congressional Democrats worked with the Biden Administration to protect the hard-earned pensions of millions of union workers and retirees across our country,” Pallone said. “Provisions from the Butch Lewis Act, a commonsense pension reform bill that I strongly supported, were signed into law to ensure the solvency of retirement plans for union truck drivers, warehouse workers, construction workers, food processors, and many others.
“Without the historic Special Financial Assistance program, these pension plans would have faced massive benefit reductions that would have impacted thousands of families in New Jersey like the workers from Bakery Drivers Local 194. I’m proud of the work Democrats did to get these provisions in the American Rescue Plan, and I’m glad to see that assistance is helping families right here in Central New Jersey receive the retirement benefits they’ve earned,” Pallone concluded.
Multiemployer pension plans are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which provides partial protection of the benefits of approximately 11.2 million workers and retirees in approximately 1,360 private-sector multiemployer, union-connected plans. Prior to the American Rescue Plan, the PBGC’s multiemployer pension insurance program was projected to become insolvent in 2026. Under the Special Financial Assistance program, financially struggling multiemployer pension plans can apply to the PBGC for assistance.
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