PBGC Approves Special Financial Assistance for Laborers Local No. 265 Plan

PBGC Press Releases

Published January 13th, 2025

Detected March 14th, 2026

Summary

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced the approval of Special Financial Assistance (SFA) for the Laborers Local No. 265 Pension Plan. The plan will receive approximately $59.4 million to avert insolvency and prevent benefit reductions for its 1,460 participants.

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What changed

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has approved an application for Special Financial Assistance (SFA) for the Laborers Local No. 265 Pension Plan, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. This approval will provide the plan with approximately $59.4 million in funding, including interest, to prevent its projected insolvency in 2027. Without this assistance, the plan's 1,460 participants would have faced a reduction in their monthly pension benefits by roughly 45% to PBGC guarantee levels.

This action is part of the broader SFA Program established by the American Rescue Plan Act. The PBGC is responsible for administering this program, which aims to secure the retirement benefits of participants in severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans. Plans receiving SFA are subject to specific terms, conditions, and reporting requirements, including annual compliance statements and potential PBGC audits. This specific plan's approval ensures continued payment of earned pension benefits without reduction for its members.

What to do next

Review PBGC SFA Program requirements for any applicable reporting or compliance obligations.
Confirm SFA disbursement details and impact on plan administration.

Source document (simplified)

This page has not been translated. Please go to PBGC.gov's Spanish home page for more information available in Spanish.

Esta página no ha sido traducida. Por favor vaya a la página principal del sitio de español de PBGC para ver información disponible en español.

PBGC approves SFA application for Laborers Local No. 265 Plan

Laborers Local No. 265 Plan averts insolvency and reduction of benefits through receipt of special financial assistance For Immediate Release Date

January 13, 2025

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 Laborers' International Union of North America Local No. 265 Pension Plan (Laborers Local No. 265 Plan). The plan, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, covers 1,460 participants in the construction industry.

The Laborers Local No. 265 Plan will receive approximately $59.4 million in SFA, including interest to the expected date of payment to the plan. The plan was projected to become insolvent and run out of money in 2027. Without the SFA Program, the Laborers Local No. 265 Plan would have been required to reduce participants’ benefits to the PBGC guarantee levels upon plan insolvency, which is roughly 45% below the benefits payable under the terms of the plan. That means, if not for the SFA Program, participants in the plan would have seen their monthly pension benefits reduced by roughly 45%. 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 January 13, 2025, five pension plans covering approximately 4,100 LIUNA members across the country have received a total of $156.3 million in special financial assistance. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the SFA Program, the earned pension benefits of these LIUNA members will be protected until long into the future.

“Middle-class families simply can’t afford to lose their hard-earned savings after a lifetime of work,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su. “Today’s approval of Special Financial Assistance by the Biden-Harris administration will ensure these 1,460 laborers in Greater Cincinnati can retire with the security and 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 January 13, 2025, PBGC has announced approval of about $70.0 billion in SFA to 108 plans that cover about 1,245,000 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.

Press Release Number: 25-004