House Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chair Bob Good (R-VA) sent letters to Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, North America’s Building Trades Union President Sean McGarvey, National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF) Investments Executive Director Kevin McCormack, NEBF Trustees Lonnie R. Stevenson, David Long, Kenneth W. Cooper, and Dennis F. Quebe, AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler, International Association of Fire Fighters President Edward Kelly, and National Education Association President Rebecca Pringle seeking information about an April 23, 2024 meeting in which these groups participated regarding an initiative to leverage pension fund investments to advance labor standards.
The Committee’s letters follow SWACCA’s successful advocacy to rescind the previous Administration’s Financial Factors rule and replace it with regulations that clarify that the creation of union jobs and contributions to pension plans are collateral benefits plan trustees may use to select between two equivalent investments. The letters note that “diverting pension fund assets to promote collective bargaining is contrary to statutory protections for pension funds subject to ERISA” and request documents and communications related to preparation for and participation in the April 23 meeting, as well as all legal opinions or memoranda used to justify the Labor Department’s position that the use of pension fund assets of pension funds subject to ERISA to “promote labor union interests” is lawful.