Almost half of top unions have underfunded pension plans ( Card Check problems too )

Examiner ^ | 06/07/09 | Kevin Mooney

[george76]

Almost half of the nation’s 20 largest unions have pension funds that federal law classifies as “endangered” or in “critical” condition due to being underfunded, an Examiner review of federal actuarial reports shows.

Pensions with less than 80 percent of the assets needed to cover present and projected liabilities are considered “endangered,” while those that fall below a 65 percent threshold are classified as “critical” under the Pension Protection Act of 2006.

The growing number of local and national union pensions that lack sufficient resources to cover their obligations could threaten the retirement security not just of union members, but also non-union employees if the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (Card Check) becomes law as currently written...

The Card Check legislation includes provisions both to abolish secret ballots in union representation elections in the workplace and to require a binding arbitration process that greatly favors unions.

“It’s like the Social Security problem on steroids,” .

“We are talking about a systemic, demographic problem where there are too few people paying in and the plans can’t earn enough returns to make up for the difference.”

McMahon believes “union members are not being told the truth about the condition of their retirement plans. The danger to non-union workers comes in with Card Check because there is nothing in it that prohibits an arbitrator from shoving companies and workers into these underfunded plans.”

[Boiling Pots]

Who cares?

The US Taxpayer will be there to ave the day.

[Frantzie]

Union leader and management scum along with the mafia has been skimming. They also “invest” in pet projects of their pals which almost always lose money. Let em eat cake.

[OldMissileer]

Of course they have underfunded pension plans.

The union hierarchy has dipped into the funds for their personal and political pleasure so many times that they have come to think the funds are just another part of their personal bank accounts.

They believe that Government will bail them out without question and with Obama in office that is what will happen.

[skipper18]

What happens when Americans realize their own pensions only exist on the private balance sheets of a completely bankrupt banking industry.

LMAO, we stop ‘bailing out’ the banks, they tell the pension funds they cant make good on the private paper because the only withdrawel they can honor is from bailout money.

I like that Obama is screwed until I realize that really, it’s us who are screwed. The Gov can never borrow the amount of money they need to reboot what the funds lost when the banks went bankrupt, which is everything.