Do Union Members Know How Underfunded Their Union Pensions Really Are?

Across the nation, many union pension funds are critically underfunded.

Unfortunately, however, it appears that some union members may not realize just how critical their union pension funds are.

By way of example, on a recent post on the LaborUnionReport Facebook page, one union member felt inclined to brag about his union pension fund—going so far as to call it “great.”

A quick look at the individual’s ‘about’ page on Facebook revealed that he is currently a member of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Union, Local 248 in Kentucky.

From there, a look at the union’s pension fund’s IRS 5500 forms on FreeErisa.com revealed that, not only is this union’s pension fund not doing “great,” it is actually severly underfunded–to the tune of $44.6 million.

According to the union pension fund’s IRS 5500 form, as found on FreeErisa.com, the fund has $36 million in current assets but has current liabilities of $80.6 million.

To make matters worse, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation—the insurance fund that insures multi-employer (union) pension funds could go down due to underfunded multiemployer pension plans.

The New York Times said in a page one article yesterday that some large multiemployer plans, like the Teamsters, are facing increased difficulties. The failure of such a large plan could completely drain the PBGC’s multiemployer pension fund, the article stated.

When union members brag about their union pensions, it makes one wonder if they really know the current dire straits union pensions are in.
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“Truth isn’t mean. It’s truth.”
Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)

Resources:

• FreeErisa.com
• Dept. of Labor’s Pension Critical/Endangered/WRERA Status Notices