The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. announced the approval of $16 million in special financial assistance for the Laborers' International Union of North America Local Union No. 1822 Pension Fund.
The pension fund, based in Syracuse, N.Y., covers 525 participants in the construction industry and is in critical status, according to a Jan. 26 news release from the PBGC. Special financial assistance will allow the pension fund to continue paying benefits without reduction for years into the future, the news release said.
"Today, the Biden-Harris administration kept our promise to fight for America's workers and retirees by taking action to protect the retirement security of 525 Laborers in Central New York," said Julie A. Su, acting secretary of labor, in the release.
Enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Special Financial Assistance Program provides financial aid to multiemployer pension plans that are severely underfunded.
As of Jan. 1, 2022, the Laborers' International Union of North America Local Union No. 1822 Pension Fund had a funding ratio of 30.2% with $79 million in projected benefit obligations, according to the plan's most recent Form 5500 filing. The plan had $20 million in assets as of Dec. 31, 2022, the filing showed.
As of Jan. 26, the PBGC has approved about $53.6 billion in special financial assistance to multiemployer pension plans covering nearly 775,000 retirees, workers and beneficiaries.
