A federal agency has been a topic of many of the news as it has announced to pick up the pension plans of over 21 thousand retirees of the dysfunctional A&P chain.
Federal agency picks up 21 thousand retirees:
The U.S Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation claimed that the pension plans that are responsible for covering a multitude of the retired officers from the defunct stores up at Lower Hudson Valley will not get bailed out.
The agency expressed their thoughts on the matter in a statement that they made this past week. They said that the New York Jersey Amalgamated Pension Plan that will be available to the A&P retirees and employees has not yet been put to bed and it’s a continual process. They then added that the pension plan for the retirees has been facing a stark 182 million dollar plus deficit and they intend to pick that up, for good and sooner rather than later.
The supermarket chain that was operational for over 150 years went bankrupt last year after failing to cope with the decreased numbers of patrons. On June 19, they decided to sell off stores across the whole country when the 20 affiliates and A&P decided that they can no longer sustain being in operation. Most of the stores located in Rockland, Putnam and Westchester counties were sold off to Key Foods and Acme Markets.
While the closing down of a famous American chain is tragic, this realization by the federal agency is called for but really should be appreciated. The retirees who worked throughout their lives with devotion for the company deserve to be compensated for their efforts. Let’s all hope that the shortfall is catered for as soon as possible and they get the benefits and the money that they rightfully deserve.
