Title
Urging Congress to reform the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation in order to assure American workers do not lose pension benefits when bankrupt corporations fail to maintain adequate pension funding.
Body
WHEREAS, the Pension Benefit Guranty Corporation (PBGC) was established by Congress in 1974 to ensure corporations fund employee pension plans in a timely and sufficient manner, and to guarantee workers receive pensions they have earned by their work; and
WHEREAS, Congressional investigators designated on July 23, 2003, the PBGC as a "high risk" program requiring urgent attention in order to continue to operate adequately; and
WHEREAS, the PBGC's ability to guarantee pensions for workers at bankrupt corporations is threatened by an accumulated deficit of $5.4 billion, and the responsibility of potentially assisting 32,000 private pension plans now in effect; and
WHEREAS, the PBGC estimates the nation's 32,000 plans have an estimated $300 billion deficit, and investment advisors are calling for increased contributions by employers to those plans to protect against failure to meet obligations to retirees; and
WHEREAS, the pensions of thousands of Central Ohio workers may be at risk as companies navigate these difficult economic times to stay in business meaning many may have to rely on the PBGC to ensure their pension benefits;
WHEREAS, PBGC has taken unprecendented steps to reduce its obligations, and in doing so have threatened the livlihood of thousands of retirees and their families, including the former workers at Republican Technologies International (RTI), which had steel production operation in Lorain, Canton and Massilion, Ohio, as well as plants elsewhere; and
WHEREAS, the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) has had to intervene in court proceedings to prompt PBGC to pay shutdown benefits to former RTI workers;
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1 This Council supports the actions of U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner to conduct hearings to examine the financial health of the agency when Congress returns from an August recess
Section 2 This Council opposes all attempts by the PBGC to minimizes its losses at the expense of workers forced from their jobs by corporate bankruptcies and are entitled to compensation they earned during their employment including pension benefits negotiated with their employers.
Section 3 This Council encourages members of Congress to develop strategies that protect the financial integrity of defined benefit pension plans that so many Americans rely on during their retirements, and to find ways to build more stable and reliable pension systems in the future.
Section 4 The Clerk of Council is hereby instructed to transmit copies of this resolution to Senator George Voinovich, Senator Michael DeWine, Steven Kandarian, PBGC chairman, and all Ohio members of the U.S. House of Representatives.