Pension Reform bill goes to vote Thursday with UAW support

The Chairmen of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee (John Boehner and Bill Thomas, respectively) announced today that they have reached a deal with the United Auto Workers on several of the provisions in the Pension Protection Act that had caused the UAW to lobby against the House pension bill. That agreement focuses on the use of credit balances and the treatment of shutdown benefits. The pension bill will be brought to the House floor on Thursday. Even if the bill passes the House, however, the conference to resolve the differences between the House and Senate bills will not occur until next year, possibly not until February or March. The bill the House Education and Workforce Committee will bring forward will include the "safest available annuity" provision and the "Boehner bill" provision on investment advice that has passed the House in previous Congresses.

December 13, 2005 (202) 225-4527

Boehner, Thomas Announce Agreement with
United Auto Workers on Key Pension Reforms

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) today announced an agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) on two modest changes to the transition rules governing benefit restrictions, including shutdown benefits, included in the Pension Protection Act (H.R. 2830). The two chairmen released the following joint statement:

"We have been working with a large group of stakeholders, including our House colleagues and a coalition of employer and labor groups to put together a bipartisan bill in the best interests of workers, retirees, and taxpayers. This morning, we reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers that will secure their active support for House passage of the Pension Protection Act.

"This agreement addresses their concerns on benefit restrictions and shutdown benefits and remains consistent with the bill's overall balanced approach of protecting worker and retiree pension assets while not forcing employers out of the defined benefit pension system our bill aims to strengthen. The UAW's support adds even more momentum to the ever-growing coalition of employer and labor support for the Pension Protection Act, and we expect the House to pass this measure before Congress adjourns this year."

Boehner and Thomas joined Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), chairman of the Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee, and Rep. John Kline (R-MN), vice-chairman of the Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee, in introducing the Pension Protection Act in June. The Education & the Workforce Committee approved the bill on June 30, 2005, with the Ways & Means Committee following suit on November 9, 2005.

For additional information on the Pension Protection Act, including a summary of the bill, visit the Education & the Workforce Committee website at http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/109th/workforce/pension/pension.htm.

The UAW is really backed up against a wall on this one.

We will get nailed on this.

They will legalize cash balance plans (perhaps even retroactively to throw out lawsuits) and screw older workers out of their pensions -- not just at the auto companies, but ALL Fortune 500 companies.

DO NOT, DO NOT TRUST BOEHNER, THOMAS, OR JOHNSON.

Cash balance plans represent an important part of the defined benefit system and worker retirement security, especially for women and low-income workers.

These plans are funded entirely by the employer, are protected by the PBGC, and offer portable benefits that allow workers to earn more generous benefits steadily throughout their careers.

However, the continuous threat of legal liability for employers offering cash balance plans is creating ongoing uncertainty and undermining the retirement security of American workers.

---------------------------------------------------------

All explicitly at the website. I just copied and pasted it.

the Republicans will never be satisfied until they have taken everything away from the middle class and turned it over to the corporate world. They will do away with pensions, minimum wage,unemployment benifits,and social security if they cant be stopped...and how can they be stopped from doing all this..Cant voted the bastards out of office......they got Diebold