Michigan Labor & Employment Law Blog
In the first of its kind, members of an international construction union voted to make drastic cuts in their already earned pensions. Members of Local Ironworkers 17 in Cleveland, Ohio approved serious cuts in January of this year to their pension plan. It was the first time ever the employees of a multi-employer pension fund had ever conducted such a vote, let alone voted to cut their own benefits. There are over 2,000 plan participants and while less than half actually voted, two-thirds of the votes did vote in favor of the cuts.
Many unionized employers participate in what are known as "multi-employer pension plans," also referred to as “Taft-Hartley plans.” These are collectively bargained plans maintained and contributed to by more than one employer, typically within the same or related industries such as manufacturing, trucking and entertainment.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) estimates that approximately 10 million Americans are covered by multi-employer pensions. There has been a good deal of controversy surrounding multi-employer pensions since Congress amended the pension law in December 2014 to allow companies to cut back not only active workers’ plans, but also those of retirees. The PBGC has been warning in recent years that approximately 10 percent of participants are in severely troubled plans.
