The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has awarded two more struggling multiemployer plans special financial assistance totaling $558 million.
The bulk of the special financial assistance, or SFA, announced June 11, will go to the CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan. That plan, which is based in Mount Laurel, N.J., and covers 24,288 participants in the printing industry, will receive $545.6 million in aid.
The CWA/ITU Plan was projected to become insolvent and run out of money in 2029, according to the PBGC.
The CWA/ITU Plan had a funding ratio of 60% with $987 million in projected benefit obligations as of Jan. 1, 2022, according to the plan's most recent Form 5500 filing. As of Dec. 31, 2022, the plan had $528 million in assets, the filing showed.
The PBGC on June 11 also announced that the Teamster Local 102 Pension Plan will receive $12.4 million in SFA. The Cherry Hill, N.J.-based plan covers 508 participants in the transportation industry.
The Local 102 plan was projected to become insolvent in 2030. It had a funding ratio of 51% with $18 million in projected benefit obligations as of April 1, 2021, according to the plan's most recent Form 5500 filing. As of March. 31, 2022, the plan had $8.7 million in assets, the filing showed.
Without the SFA Program, both plans would have been required to reduce participants’ benefits to the PBGC guarantee level upon plan insolvency, which means that their benefits would have been cut by roughly 15% below what was payable under the terms of the plan, the PBGC noted.
Created by the American Rescue Plan Act that Democrats passed in March 2021, the SFA Program is designed to shore up struggling multiemployer pension plans through 2051.
As of June 11, the PBGC had approved about $54.6 billion in SFA to plans that cover about 818,000 workers, retirees and beneficiaries.
