Congressman Kim Secures $279 Million to Protect 10,252 Service Industry Workers’ Retirement Benefits
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. – Today, Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) announced that the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 152 Retail Meat Pension Plan (UFCW Local 152 Plan), based in Mount Laurel, will receive $279.3 million from the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) Program to pay participant’s retirement benefits without reduction for many years to come. Congressman Kim helped create the SFA Program through the American Rescue Plan in 2021.
“Across any industry, American workers deserve to have full confidence that their promised and paid-into retirement plan will be waiting for them when they retire. I am proud to stand by over 10,000 service industry workers across our region and keep up our end of the deal to defend their hard-earned retirement benefits. From on-the-job rights, protections, and pay to securing their retirement, I am committed to delivering the fair benefits workers across our country deserve,” said Congressman Kim.
“Millions of people work for years, looking forward to the day when the promise of a secure, dignified retirement is kept,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su. “Today, the Biden-Harris administration is delivering on that promise for 10,252 service industry workers throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware by providing Special Financial Assistance in the UFCW Local 152 plan that ensures they can retire with the dignity they deserve.”
The UFCW Local 152 Plan covers more than 10,252 participants in the service industry throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Without the SFA Program, the plan was projected to become insolvent and run out of money in 2029. Had this happened, the UFCW Local 152 Plan would have been required to reduce participants’ benefits to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) guarantee level upon the plan’s insolvency, roughly 25% below the benefits payable under the terms of the plan. The SFA’s multiemployer pensions relief allows the UFCW Local 152 Plan to restore all retirement benefit cuts going forward and make payments to retirees who may have been impacted by previous cuts.
The American Rescue Plan created the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) Program to avert the immediate multiemployer pensions crisis threatening the retirement security of workers, retirees, and their families. The program protects failing pension plans that were either already insolvent or projected to run out of money this year and restores prior benefit cuts so that retirees are made whole. As of April 12, 2024, PBGC has approved about $53.9 billion in SFA to plans that cover about 786,000 workers, retirees, and beneficiaries.
Congressman Kim is the Ranking Member on the Military Personnel Subcommittee, and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. More information about Congressman Kim’s accessibility, his work serving New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, and information on newsletters and his monthly town halls can be found on his website by clicking here.
###
Press Contact
Forrest Rilling, (240) 535-4942
Anna Connole, (571) 205-2615
Next Article Previous Article