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**Another bailout on the way?
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Union Pension Liabilities Soar to $369 Billion
Last year, in an article for THE WEEKLY STANDARD I discussed the growing number of existential threats to unions. One of the major challenges facing unions is that their multi-employer pension plans are deep in the hole, and the problems were being masked by accounting standards that allowed them to hide their debt:
Getting a handle on multi-employer pension liabilities has always been notoriously difficult, and concern about their viability has grown as American union membership has dwindled in the face of globalization and technologically driven gains in productivity. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that as of 1998 the number of union members paying into the plans was equal to the number of retirees receiving benefits. The Financial Accounting Standards Board recently noted in a press release that a “study of over 100 multi-employer plans, including the largest plans in the country (as measured by assets), indicated that in 2008 those plans were collectively underfunded by over $160 billion (approximately 44 percent of their collective plan liabilities).” …
and
In 2010, congressional Democrats actually floated a bill that would have required taxpayers to essentially bail out union pension plans in perpetuity. Now that the expected liabilities have more than doubled, it’s even more absurd to imagine such a bailout would gain political traction. Still, Democrats remain heavily dependent on unions for campaign cash – they’re expected to spend a whopping $400 million on elections this year. It’s probably a good idea not to underestimate what President Obama and congressional Democrats to will do to reward their largest donor.
more…
**
Union Pension Liabilities Soar to $369 Billion
Last year, in an article for THE WEEKLY STANDARD I discussed the growing number of existential threats to unions. One of the major challenges facing unions is that their multi-employer pension plans are deep in the hole, and the problems were being masked by accounting standards that allowed them to hide their debt:
Getting a handle on multi-employer pension liabilities has always been notoriously difficult, and concern about their viability has grown as American union membership has dwindled in the face of globalization and technologically driven gains in productivity. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that as of 1998 the number of union members paying into the plans was equal to the number of retirees receiving benefits. The Financial Accounting Standards Board recently noted in a press release that a “study of over 100 multi-employer plans, including the largest plans in the country (as measured by assets), indicated that in 2008 those plans were collectively underfunded by over $160 billion (approximately 44 percent of their collective plan liabilities).” …
and
In 2010, congressional Democrats actually floated a bill that would have required taxpayers to essentially bail out union pension plans in perpetuity. Now that the expected liabilities have more than doubled, it’s even more absurd to imagine such a bailout would gain political traction. Still, Democrats remain heavily dependent on unions for campaign cash – they’re expected to spend a whopping $400 million on elections this year. It’s probably a good idea not to underestimate what President Obama and congressional Democrats to will do to reward their largest donor.
more…
They probably view it as an investment. Pay up $400 million and the Democrats will make sure they get the $369 billion even if it helps make the country go belly up.