6. Bernie Sanders

“At the end of the day, if you study the record, there is no candidate that is more pro labor than Bernie Sanders,” said Senator Sanders of himself.

“I will not tolerate workers losing pensions when they have paid into that pension for their entire work life,” he said.

The Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which found its way into an omnibus spending bill at the end of the year and created a program through the Treasury Department that allowed critical and declining pensions to cut retiree benefits, was “outrageous and disgusting,” said Sanders. He did not vote for that spending bill.

“My Secretary of Treasury will never, never allow for a cut to a pension when that worker was promised that pension. It will not happen,” said Sanders.

“This is a promise that is not that hard to keep,” he added.

Citing the $1 trillion Trump tax cut package, a rescue for multiemployer plans would be nominal—“we are talking about a gap of some $30 billion,” said Sanders. The Congressional Budget Office has questioned the cost estimates advanced by the Butch Lewis Act’s proponents. (Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

Here's what 6 Democratic presidential candidates had to say about  the pension crisis that stands to impact the retirement security of 1.4 million workers in 130 plans across the country.

Their comments were made at a forum hosted by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Read the article below to see why no other retirement issue is as pressing as the imminent insolvency of the Central States Pension Plan, and the ripple effects its failure will cause.

1. Joe Biden

Hoffa introduced the former Vice President as a “very good friend of the Teamsters.”

“I’m labor from belt buckle to shoe soul,” said Biden.

If he came to Cedar Rapids with a script for the event, Vice President Biden seemed to have left it in the motorcade. Asked by a retired member and participant in the Central States Plan what his plan is to address the multiemployer pension crisis, Biden offered his support for the Butch Lewis Act, which would secure union pensions through loans and not require any pension claw backs.

“I’m going to see to it that we open up a window at the Treasury Department. They can provide 1 percent loans to make sure these pensions are able to sustain themselves,” said Biden.

Biden told the story of his father, a white-collar worker, losing his company’s pension.

But he did not go into specifics on multiemployer pension reform, instead dovetailing into a laundry list of plans that included free junior college for all, fining corporate management individually when they obstruct union organization efforts, $15 federal minimum wage, and tripling federal dollars for pre-school. “I have a better record than anybody you’re going to be talking to,” Biden told the audience. (Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

2. Cory Booker

Senator Booker called on the Democratic Party to unite America. “That is the call of this moment,” he said. “We don’t turn against each other, we turn to each other.”

In response to a question on multiemployer pension reform, Booker, whose grandfather was a UAW laborer during WWII, delivered a three-pronged message.

“We are going to get that passed,” he said of the Butch Lewis Act, for which he was an original co-sponsor.

He also said he would reform Social Security by lifting the cap on earnings subject to the payroll tax. “Social Security is a regressive tax. There is a simple way to fix it,” said Booker.

And he would raise the income eligibility threshold for Medicaid so elderly Americans don’t have to spend their entire savings before receiving end of life care, and he would qualify those caring for a family member for the earned income tax credit.

“This is very straightforward, and it’s insulting we even have to have this conversation,” Booker said of the prospect of retirees losing promised pension benefits. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg)

3. Pete Buttigieg

The mayor of South Bend, IN took a question on multiemployer reform from a 23-year participant in the Central States plan who is planning to retire just as the pension becomes insolvent.

“The bottom line is you deserve to know the promises made to you will be kept,” said Buttigieg.

He also proposed shoring up Social Security by lifting the earnings cap, specifically to income over $250,000. He claimed President Trump’s budget proposal “took away” from Social Security.

Buttigieg also addressed non-unionized workers through a novel federal “public option” 401(k), which he says would insist on 2-to-1 employer-to-employee contributions.

And he would create Long Term Care America, a new program that would channel up to $90 a day for infirmed elderly with the purpose of enhancing in-home long-term care.

“But we would make sure multiemployer plans are secure and rock solid for the future,” said Buttigieg. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg)

4. Amy Klobuchar

Senator Amy Klobuchar “fights constantly to save our Central States pension,” Hoffa said as he introduced the senator from Minnesota.

“The Butch Lewis Act isn’t just a policy for me. I’ve lived it,” said Klobuchar, the daughter of union parents.

“As president, I will get it done,” she said of the Butch Lewis Act.

She also promised to shore up Social Security by lifting the cap on the payroll tax and said she would work to let new workers in the gig economy organize.

“Promises that are made are promises that should be kept,” said Klobuchar. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg)

5. Tom Steyer

Steyer, a billionaire and activist whose grassroots organization, Next Gen America, organizes voters in swing states and districts, is “completely” for Butch Lewis.

Steyer claimed the “drastically underfunded” multiemployer pension system occurred because company sponsors failed to fund them adequately.

“Butch Lewis is raising money and lending it to the pension system for the next 30 years and paying the money back. It makes a ton of sense,” said Steyer.

Steyer would also create Universal Retirement Accounts for non-union workers. Under the accounts, the federal government would match contributions; the government match would increase for lower income workers.

“We give a huge tax break to rich people that save money. Why are we not doing that for everyone, like we do through the tax system for rich people?” asked Steyer.

Universal Retirement Accounts would be funded through a wealth tax, he said.

“I am running for president for a very simple reason,” said Steyer. “I think corporations have bought our government. I believe this election is about taking back our government.” (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg)

6. Bernie Sanders

“At the end of the day, if you study the record, there is no candidate that is more pro labor than Bernie Sanders,” said Senator Sanders of himself.

“I will not tolerate workers losing pensions when they have paid into that pension for their entire work life,” he said.

The Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which found its way into an omnibus spending bill at the end of the year and created a program through the Treasury Department that allowed critical and declining pensions to cut retiree benefits, was “outrageous and disgusting,” said Sanders. He did not vote for that spending bill.

“My Secretary of Treasury will never, never allow for a cut to a pension when that worker was promised that pension. It will not happen,” said Sanders.

“This is a promise that is not that hard to keep,” he added.

Citing the $1 trillion Trump tax cut package, a rescue for multiemployer plans would be nominal—“we are talking about a gap of some $30 billion,” said Sanders. The Congressional Budget Office has questioned the cost estimates advanced by the Butch Lewis Act’s proponents. (Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)