President Obama has sold out unions’ pensions when he signed a must pass omnibus bill, which has the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. The bill strikes down an enshrined American ideal that money earned for a pension can’t be pulled out from under our feet like a rug once we retire. That promise, once codified in law, was upended by the passage of this reform act.
This act will effect some 400,000 participants by cutting benefits for some retirees now, some up to 60 percent. This is the central state pension funds, which is predicted to be insolvent in 10 years and this fund is the canary in the mineshaft as similar multiemployer pension funds are now at risk.
If these funds go bust, mortgages won’t be paid, prescriptions won’t be filled, utility bills and groceries will be a regular hardship. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell hates unions so there will be no hope there, and Hillary Clinton is no fan of unions either. This just leaves Bernie Sanders and no one is talking about this, which could affect millions of retirees.
This could take down the multiemployer arms of the pension benefit guaranty corporation, the federal government, which is the pension insurance program and that fund is also in trouble. So, does this mean people on pensions will lose all their supportive means? This very well could be and they should hope their children have a good job and room for their parents to move in. If their children are living in their parents’ home, then the whole family is in for a life in the streets. Is this the way we are going to reward our workers?
Last year, Sanders introduced legislation to repeal the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, along with Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio. They brought forth the Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2015, which would prohibit trustees of multiemployer pension plans from reducing retirees’ monthly benefits.
It is anti-worker legislation like this that makes voting so very important.
It’s time to pick a side. You want to have and keep unions with good wages and pensions, then it’s time to pick a side. You want to keep Social Security for yourself and family, it is time to pick a side. You want to get or keep Medicare and Obama’s Affordable Care Act, then it’s time to pick a side. It is us against the billionaires. The very rich got that way off the backs of workers, and now want to strip everything away from those workers. It’s time to pick a side. The very rich can buy countries, then make the people get on their hands and knees and grovel and beg for scrapes that usually go into the dumpster. It’s time to pick a side. Is this what we want for our family and our future? It’s time to pick a side. Get ready to fight for you and your families’ lives. There is no middle ground with these greedy people for they want it all—all the money—all the power—all the land so where does this leave us when they have all the commons, like water, land and airways? It’s time to pick...
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