Construction unions attempt to entice merit shop craftspeople and new industry entrants into joining a union with promises of generous pension plans. They also convince elected officials in charge of procuring taxpayer-funded projects why union contractors and union workers deserve special treatment through various schemes like government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) because of the public [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Credit Suisse, featured, Pension Withdrawal Liability, pensions, PGBC, PLAs, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, President Obama, Project Labor Agreements, The Politics of PLAs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Wall Street Journal
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March 25, 2010 – 12:17 pm
There is an interesting piece in today’s Washington Times that examines how poorly performing union pension plans are at the heart of Big Labor’s support for health care reform and push for government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal and federally-funded construction projects (“Unions Want Washington’s Help With Pension Funds,” 3/25/10). Nonunion workers and private companies could be forced into absorbing the [...]
By Ben Brubeck
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Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Brett McMahon, EFCA, Executive Order 13502, FAR Case 2009-005, FAR Council Proposed Rule, Federal Construction, Federal Contracting, Kevin Mooney, McGowan, Pension Withdrawal Liability, pensions, PLAs, Project Labor Agreements, Union-only PLAs harm local workers, Washington Times
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PLAs often require bidders to participate in union multi-employer pension programs mandated by collective bargaining agreements. Contributing to multi-employer pension plans is problematic for non-union contractors for a variety of reasons highlighted here. An interesting article courtesy of Chang Ruthenberg and Long Employee Benefit Attorneys warns employers about the problems of contributing to multiemployer pension plans (“Cautions [...]
Yesterday I wrote about how pension provisions in typical PLAs: Hurt retirement for non-union workers. Employer retirement contributions into union pension plans on behalf of non-union workers are forfeited unless workers join a union. Keep underfunded and mismanaged union pension plans afloat. Expose contractors to underfunded multi-employer pension withdrawal liability. Increase costs to construction users because [...]
A piece in The Washington Examiner (“Almost half of top unions have underfunded pension plans,” 6/7) reports that some major construction labor unions have underfunded pension plans. This is relevant to the PLA debate because PLAs typically force non-union employers and their employees to contribute to union pension funds for time worked on a PLA project. Readers may [...]
