Chuck Schumer announces $67M to restore local union's pension benefits

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Thursday $67 million to restore Laborers' Local No. 91's full pension benefits for 575 union workers throughout Western New York.

The union represents construction workers in Niagara County who provide materials to brick masons and are trained in asbestos removal, hazardous materials abatement, paving roads, pipe installations and construction.

Funds will come from the American Rescue Plan, Schumer said. The union's pension plan was predicted to run out of money by the end of this year.

“This is a huge relief for all of us,” Local 91 Member Bruce Stenzel said in a release. “We’ve put in decades of tough work on numerous job sites and in all kinds of weather, in the hopes of building a better future for ourselves and our families. When we heard our pensions were in trouble, it felt like the rug was being pulled out from under us. Thanks to Senator Schumer, that future is back on track.”

Over the past couple of years, the program has provided pension fixes for other unions in Western New York, including Buffalo, Cheektowaga and Orleans County.

“Western NY’s union construction workers are the best of the best. Working hard every day, building and repairing our roads, bridges, and more," Schumer said in a release. "They worked hard, played by the rules, and paid into pension plans that were at risk of being drastically cut or even completely disappearing through no fault of their own. I promised to fight to make sure that wouldn’t happen, and today I am proud to say a promise made is a promise kept."