Wages & Pensions

WSJ says Union Pensions in the Red. Project Labor Agreements to the Rescue?

2 July 29, 2009  Federal Construction, State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

As TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has said before, one of the reasons construction unions push discriminatory and costly project labor agreements (PLAs) is because they are a windfall for their mismanaged and underfunded pension programs. The Wall Street Journal’s July 26 opinion piece, Union Pensions in the Red, exposed the inadequate funding levels of numerous union pension plans’ and lists Big […]

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Expert Advice: Beware of PLA Multiemployer Pension Plan Mandates

0 June 29, 2009  Uncategorized

PLAs often require contractors to participate in union multi-employer pension programs mandated via applicable union collective bargaining agreements referenced in PLAs .  Contributing to multi-employer pension plans is problematic for nonunion contractors for a variety of reasons highlighted here. An interesting article by Chang, Ruthenberg and Long Employee Benefit Attorneys warns employers about the problems with contributing […]

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More on Union Pensions

0 June 11, 2009  Uncategorized

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 […]

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Construction Unions Push PLAs to Save Underfunded Union Pension Plans

1 June 10, 2009  Uncategorized

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 […]

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