WASHINGTON — The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced today that it has approved the application submitted to the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) Program by the International Association of United Slate, Tile and Composition Roofers, Damp and Waterproof Workers Roofers Local No. 75 Pension Plan (United Slate, Tile and Composition Roofers Local 75 Plan). The plan, based in Dayton, Ohio, covers 275 participants in the construction industry.
The United Slate, Tile and Composition Roofers Local 75 Plan, which is in critical status, will receive approximately $6.8 million in SFA, including interest to the expected date of payment to the plan. SFA will enable the plan to continue to pay retirement benefits without reduction for many years into the future.
The SFA Program was enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act – signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021. Through December 23, 2024, three pension plans covering approximately 1,201 roofing workers and retirees across the country have received a total of $59.6 million in special financial assistance. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the SFA Program, these roofing workers and retirees have been saved from cuts to their earned pension benefits.
“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 these 275 roofers in Ohio by providing Special Financial Assistance in the United Slate, Tile and Composition Roofers Local 75 Plan, that ensures they can retire with the dignity they deserve.”
About the Special Financial Assistance Program
The SFA Program provides funding to severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans and will ensure that millions of America’s workers, retirees, and their families receive the pension benefits they earned.
The SFA Program requires plans to demonstrate eligibility for SFA and to calculate the amount of assistance pursuant to ARP and PBGC’s regulations. SFA and earnings thereon must be segregated from other plan assets and may be used only to pay plan benefits and administrative expenses. Plans receiving SFA are also subject to certain terms, conditions and reporting requirements, including an annual statement documenting compliance with the terms and conditions. PBGC is authorized to conduct periodic audits of multiemployer plans that receive SFA.
As of December 23, 2024, PBGC has announced approval of about $69.8 billion in SFA to 105 plans that cover about 1,233,000 workers, retirees, and beneficiaries.
The SFA Program operates under a final rule, published in the Federal Register on July 8, 2022, which became effective August 8, 2022, and was amended effective January 26, 2023.
About PBGC
PBGC protects the retirement security of about 31 million American workers, retirees, and beneficiaries in both single-employer and multiemployer private sector pension plans. The agency’s two insurance programs are legally separate and operationally and financially independent. PBGC is directly responsible for the benefits of nearly 1.4 million participants and beneficiaries in failed single-employer pension plans. The Single-Employer Program is financed by insurance premiums, investment income, and assets and recoveries from failed single-employer plans. The Multiemployer Program is financed by insurance premiums and investment income. Special financial assistance for financially troubled multiemployer plans is financed by general taxpayer monies.