The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. approved $31.6 million in special financial assistance for the Retirement Benefit Plan of the Newspaper and Magazine Drivers, Chauffeurs and Handlers Union Local 473.
The plan, based in Valley View, Ohio, covers 804 participants in the transportation industry, and was projected to become insolvent in 2034.
Upon insolvency, the plan would have had to cut benefits by roughly 50% below the amount payable under the terms of the plan, but the special financial assistance will allow the plan to continue to pay benefits without reduction for many years into the future, according to an Aug. 16 PBGC news release.
The American Rescue Plan, which Congress passed in 2021, set up the Special Financial Assistance Program as a way to aid financially struggling multiemployer pension plans.
As of Jan. 1, 2022, the Retirement Benefit Plan of the Newspaper and Magazine Drivers, Chauffeurs and Handlers Union Local 473 had a funding ratio of 56.4%, with $116.6 million in projected benefit obligations, according to the plan’s most recent Form 5500 filing. The plan had $48.9 million in assets as of Dec. 31, 2022, the filing showed.
The PBGC has announced approval of about $67.7 billion in SFA to pension plans covering about 1.2 million workers, retirees and beneficiaries as of Aug. 16, according to the news release.
