Senator's plan would aid Teamsters' pension fund

With twice as many retirees as active workers, the Western Pennsylvania Teamsters Fund, like many multi-employer pension plans, is in trouble.

A proposal by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., would help rescue the fund and one other pension plan by allowing beneficiaries of bankrupt companies to spin off into their own federally backed plans instead of dragging down the larger plan.

The rescue effort would apply only to the Western Pennsylvania Teamsters Fund -- which is in critical condition at less than 60 percent funded, according to the fund's attorney, Vincent Szeligo -- and the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, a large plan that covers a variety of industries including trucking and construction. Full Story.....