Reactions to the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, the latest COVID-19 relief bill, have been dominated by justifiable outrage on the Left at the eight Democratic senators who voted against including a $15 per hour minimum wage hike. But sandwiched in the $1.9 trillion bill is significant pension relief — the product of years of tireless organizing by Teamster retiree activists.

The bill includes measures from the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act, which rescues Central States Pension Fund plans in the form of grants from the US Treasury Department that do not have to be repaid. Pensioners will receive 100 percent of their earned benefits. A whopping $83 billion of the bill’s $1.9 trillion price tag will go toward saving the pensions of over one million workers, including four hundred thousand Teamsters.

Though framed as a COVID-19 emergency relief measure, the pension crisis predates the pandemic and will remain precarious afterward. But this victory shows sustained grassroots mobilization can save our chance at a dignified retirement.