"Death Gamble" Heading Towards Passage

JUNE 5 -- With only two days to go before the end of the legislative session in Albany, the Union has been advised that our "Death Gamble" pension legislation is set to pass both houses. This provision benefits MTA/NYCT members' estates who attained the years of service and age requirements for a full pension, but died before retiring without having filed for retirement.

If a member dies in active service, his or her beneficiaries receive a death benefit, generally equal to three times their regular salary. This is often less than the family would receive if the member had retired and filed for a pension.

With the passage of the new bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) and Assemb. Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Queens), the family of a transit worker who dies in active service, and who has met the age/service requirement for a full pension, will receive the full value of that pension benefit, as if they had retired on the date of their death.

President Davis thanked TWU Local 100 PAC Director Sharase DeBouse, Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato (in photo), Sen. Gounardes, and the many members of the legislature who stood by transit workers and guided this legislation to a successful conclusion.

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