Today the Board of Trustees of the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund announced that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has approved the AFM-EPF application for Special Financial Assistance. Funds are expected to be received on or about August 12, 2024. Continue reading
Our AFM-EPF pension plan is one of over 100 multiemployer union pensions in critical status because of aging demographics, declining participation, and reduced contributions. But now, if we all stand together in unison as AFM members, we can change that.
The AFM and its U.S. player conferences (ICSOM, RMA, ROPA and TMA) have put together a handy toolkit for all members to take action to support the Reconciliation Package and ensure our pension and retirement remain secure. Time is of the essence as pension reform is the closest it has ever been in years to becoming a reality. Lobbying takes a focused and organized effort. There are tens of thousands of pension participants and AFM members around the U.S. We can make this happen! Continue reading
Earlier this year Congress established a bipartisan Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. The original deadline to address the dire solvency issues facing over 100 pension funds across the U.S., including the AFM-EPF, was Nov. 30, 2018. However, the Chairs of the Joint Select Committee announced that they had made progress, and would continue working beyond that deadline.
This Joint Select Committee represents the best chance yet to pass legislation that helps our Fund and protects your benefits and retirement security. However, proposed changes to the Butch Lewis Act would prevent the AFM-EPF and many other multiemployer pension funds from accessing the bill’s loan program.
Is your AFM pension important to you? If you answered “yes,” please read on:
Earlier this year Congress established a bipartisan Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. This Committee is tasked with producing legislation by Nov. 30, 2018 to address the dire solvency issues facing over 100 multiemployer pension funds across the U.S., including the AFM-EPF.
This Joint Select Committee represents the best chance yet to pass legislation that helps our Fund and protects your benefits and retirement security. However, proposed changes to the Butch Lewis Act would prevent the AFM-EPF and many other multiemployer pension funds from accessing the bill’s loan program.
The good news: There is still time to make our voices heard.
In their meetings with AFM-EPF Trustees, members of the Joint Select Committee universally stated that no legislative approach has been finalized, and there is still time for more ideas about fully and fairly addressing the crisis—and for more negotiation to attempt to reach a consensus.
However, it is still far from certain whether any proposed solution will garner sufficient bipartisan support in the Committee, let alone both houses of Congress.
There are just 21 days until the Joint Select Committee’s Nov. 30 deadline. Make your voice heard at this critical juncture: Continue reading
A message from the ICSOM Governing Board about the AFM-EPF:
As you will have seen, the Joint Select Committee in charge of ushering the Butch Lewis Act through Congress has now changed the parameters of that legislation such that our AFM Employer Pension Fund would no longer qualify for relief under the proposed language. Continue reading
