Last week I discussed how withdrawal liability can attach to a company that does not have a union. Today, is how withdrawal liability can attach to asset purchasers of a company that contributes to underfunded pension plans through the doctrine of successor liability. Most of you will stop reading now…. Penn Traffic Company (“PT”) operated…

Every company I represent that has a union pension plan is concerned about withdrawal liability. In a nutshell, withdrawal liability occurs when an employer exits a pension plan and must pay its “proportionate share” of the underfunded plan. Exiting generally occurs when: 1) employers negotiate out of the plan, 2) a company is sold and…

The New England Teamsters’ pension fund is $5.1 billion dollars underfunded, according to the Boston Globe. The New England Teamsters’ pension plan covers more than 72,000 truck drivers and warehouse workers represented by the New England Teamsters Union across many employers. Only one other United States multi-employer pension plan is more underfunded than the New England…

Eleven pension plans seek to cut retiree benefits because the plans are underfunded. If all eleven cut requests are approved, about 27,000 active workers and retirees could see a dip in their pension benefits by as much as 50%. The pending requests are from: Ironworkers Local 16 Pension Fund Ironworkers Local 805 Pension & Retirement Plan; Local 807…

Four union pension funds covering various industries recently asked the U.S. Department of Treasury for permission to reduce the amount of benefits they pay to retirees. Two out of those four union pension funds are from Ohio.  The Ohio unions are the Southwest Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Pension Plan and the Toledo Roofers Local No.…

Ten thousand union workers and retirees assembled on the grounds of the Ohio State Capitol today to protest potential cuts to the underfunded pensions of some 1.5 million people. They hoped to tell how cuts to their multiemployer pension plan benefits would devastate their lives and make it difficult to pay for their homes and medical costs. Members of…