15 Nov Local 334 Retirees Tell Sen. Collins: Save Our Pension
In Portland, Maine on a recent chilly Saturday morning, BCTGM Local 334 Business Agent John Jordan held a special meeting for Local 334 retirees. The purpose of that meeting? To explain the Butch Lewis Act of 2019 (S. 2254) and the importance of contacting U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) to urge her support of the legislation.
Here is what Local 334 retirees had to say about their B&C Pension and why it is important that Congress take action to help preserve multiemployer pension plans:
Local 334 retiree Bill King began working at JJ Nissens Bakery in Portland after serving in the Korean War. At the Local 334 retiree meeting, King wrote a letter to Senator Collins explaining his feelings about his pension while urging her to co-sponsor S. 2254.
King has been collecting a B&C Pension for 30 years. He says:
โThis pension is my livelihood. Years ago we would negotiate pension increases in lieu of a raise so it would be there when we needed it most in our older years. To see a reduction in my pension would hurt because it helps support me along with my Social Security.โ
Local 334 retiree Be Phan emigrated from Vietnam and became a
member of the union when he went to work at the Wonder Bread factory in Natick,
Massachusetts. He later moved to Biddeford, Maine and took a job at the Hostess
Plant. Phan also sent a letter to Senator Collins.
โMy pension is very important to my life. It helps me pay for my mortgage and
groceries. Mostly it makes me proud to be a union member,โ reflects Phan.
S. 2254 is the only Senate legislation that addresses the nationโs looming multiemployer pension crisis. Please join together with King, Phan and more than 3,000 other BCTGM retirees and members in emailing your Senators.
There are more than 300 multiemployer pension plans across the country โ including the B&C Pension Fund. The Butch Lewis Act of 2019 is important to ALL BCTGM members with collectively bargained pensions.
It is crucial that BCTGM members and retirees across the country contact their Senators and urge them to support S. 2254.