A Northern California pension plan covering more than 138,000 service industry workers and retirees will receive $2.6 billion in federal relief funding, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier announced.
The funding will go to the Northern California UFCW Plan, based in Concord, and is intended to help the plan continue paying retirement benefits without reductions for its 138,516 participants, according to DeSaulnier’s office.
The relief was approved through the federal Special Financial Assistance Program, which supports severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans, a news release noted.
“In the midst of the COVID epidemic, Democrats fought tooth and nail to protect the lives and livelihoods of working Americans and their families, ultimately passing the American Rescue Plan to prevent cuts to the hard-earned benefits of retirees and workers. This funding, that will benefit hundreds of thousands of workers and retirees, including those here in our district, is a direct result of those efforts and I am proud to have helped bring this money home,” DeSaulnier said.