FINANCIAL TIMES: The hole in the pension plans of US labour unions now stands at $369bn Credit Suisse has calculated with the aid of new reporting standards. This raises the prospect of higher pension contributions for employers and deteriorating industrial relations.
Multi-employer pension schemes, managed by trade unions on behalf of members working for many different employers, are now just 52 per cent funded, the bank calculates with m ost of the burden to close this gap likely to fall on small and midsize companies…
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which insures US pension schemes, estimates that at the start of 2009, the most recent figures it has published, multi-employer plans were 48 per cent funded, with $331bn of assets to fund $686bn of liabilities… (more)
