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The Coming Union Pension Plan Collapse

-By Warner Todd Huston

At the blog YidWithLid.blogspot.com Sammy Benoit has posted an interesting piece about the mess befalling so many failing union pension funds across the nation. The post includes a very useful chart that shows the trouble in which some of the largest union pension funds find themselves.

The upshot is that these pensions are on the verge of total collapse which will leave millions of retiring union members and those already retired bereft of the pensions that they had assumed would carry them into their golden years.

The list is extremely scary. This is a disaster for many people. But what is the solution? Naturally the unions are hoping that government is the solution. But the problem with a government bailout is that should a bailout happen the unions will not learn the important lesson that they should learn from the necessary collapse, necessary to reign in their excess. Sadly, many will be hurt by this reigning in of unions, but these same members should never have allowed their unions to get so out of hand in the first place!

So, courtesy of YidWithLid…

The list of 108 union pension plans below is from the Moody’s September 2009 report. The ones in green print are at the endangered level, the ones in red are critical. 

. . Union Pension Plan % Funded . Alaska Hotel & Restaurant Employees Pension Plan 79.70% . American Federation of Musicians & Employers Pension 78.90% . Teamsters Local 639 Employers Pension Trust 76.10% . Producer-Writers Guild of America Pension Plan 75.90% . Ohio Operating Engineers Pension Plan 75.70% . Laborers District Council and Contractors Pension Fund of Ohio 75.40% . Southern Nevada Culinary & Bartenders Pension Trust 75.40% . Alaska Electrical Pension Plan 74.30% . Alaska Laborers – Employers Retirement Fund 73.70% . Electrical Contractors Assoc. of City of Chicago Union 134, IBEW Jt. Pension 2 73.70% . Carpenters Retirement Plan of Western Washington 73.10% . Automotive Industries Pension Plan 72.40% . American Maritime Officers Pension Plan (2005) 72.40% . United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan 72.30% . GCIU Local 119B NY Printers League Pension Fund 71.40% . National Elevator Industry Pension 71.00% . Western Conference of Teamsters 70.60% . Newspaper GUILD of NY the New York Times Pension Plan 70.50%

. Chicago District Council of Carpenters Pension Fund 70.10% . District No. 9, IAM and Aerospace Workers Pension 69.70% . Rocky Mt. UFCW Unions & Employers Pension Plan 69.50% . Hotel/Casino – Summary 69.50% . NECA-IBEW Pension Trust Fund 69.20% . Central Pension Fund of the IUOE and Participating Employers 69.20% . AFTRA Retirement Plan 68.90% . Carpenters Pension Trust Fund of St Louis 68.60% . MA State Carpenters Pension Fund 68.60% . National Automatic Sprinkler Industry Pension 67.80% . Midwest Operating Engineers Pension 67.80% . Retail Clerks Pension Plan 67.70% . Electrical Workers Pension Fund, Local 103, IBEW 67.50% . Building Trades United Pension Trust Fund MIL and Vicinity 67.40% . CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan 66.80% . UFCW Unions & Employers Midwest Pension Fund 66.70% . Laborers Pension Fund 66.70% . Carpenters Pension Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity 66.40% . UFCW International Union Pension Plan for Employees 66.40% . Alaska Teamster-Employer Pension Plan 66.30%

. Steelworkers Pension Trust (2007) 66.20% . Hotel Industry-ILWU Pension Plan 65.70% . National Asbestos Workers Pension Fund 65.20% . IUOE Stationary Engineers Local 39 Pension Plan 65.20% . SEIU National Industry Pension Fund 65.00% . Trucking Employees of North Jersey Welfare Fund Inc. Pension Fund 65.00% . Massachusetts Laborers Pension Fund 64.70% . California Ironworkers Field Pension Trust 64.50% . Carpenters Pension Fund of Illinois 64.20% . Automotive Machinists Pension Plan 63.80% . NJ Carpenters Pension Fund 63.60% . The Newspaper Guild International Pension Plan 62.80% . Minnesota Laborers Pension Fund 62.40% . Bakery & Confectionery Union & Industry International Pension 62.30% . Laborers National Pension Fund 62.10% . Operating Engineers Pension Trust 61.70% . UFCW Unions and Food Employers Pension Plan of Central Ohio 61.30% . UFCW Nothern California Joint Pension 61.00% . Carpenters Pension fund of Western Pennsylvania 60.80% . Newspaper and Mail Delivers – Publishers Pension Fund 60.50%

. Carpenter Pension Trust for Southern California 60.40% . BERT Bell Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan 60.00% . Major League Baseball Players Pension Plan 59.60% . Sheet Metal Workers Pension Plan of S. CA, Arizona and Nevada 59.50% . NY District Council of Carpenters Pension Plan 59.30% . SO CA UFCW Union Joint Pension 58.40% . National Electrical Benefit Fund 58.20% . Boilermaker Blacksmith National Pension 58% . GCIU-Employer Retirement Fund 57.60% . ILWU-PMA Pension Plan 56.90% . Masters, Mates & Pilots Pension Plan 56.60% . Wisconsin Carpenters Pension Fund 56.50% . Electrical Workers Pension Trust Fund of Local Union 58 55.80% . Automotive Mechanics Local No. 701 Union Pension Fund 55.60% . IB of T Union Local 710 Pension 55.60% . Michigan Laborers Pension Fund 55.30% . PACE Industry Union-Management Pension Fund 55.20% . Pipe Fitters Retirement Fund Local 597 55.20% . Sheet Metal Workers Pension Plan of Northern Calif 55.10% . Central Pennsylvania Teamsters Defined Benefit Plan 55.10%

. NY Hotel Trades Council and Hotel Association of NYC Pension Fund 55.10% . Teamsters Joint Council No. 83 of Verginia Pension Fund 54.90% . National Integrated Group Pension Plan 54.50% . Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension 54.50% . Central Laborers Pension Fund 54.20% . Iron Workers District Council of Southern Ohio & Vicinity Pension Trust 53.90% . Carpenters Pension Trust Fund for Northern California 53.70% . Bricklayers & Trowel Trades International Pension Fund 53.60% . Western Pennsylvania Teamsters and Employers Pension Plan 53.10% . Chicago Newspaper Publishers Drivers Union Pension Trust 52.90% . OE Pension Trust Fund 52.40% . Indiana State District Council of Laborers & Hod Carriers Pension Fund 51.70% . NYS Teamsters Conference Pension & Retirement Fund 51.40% . LIUNA National Industrial Pension Fund 50.30% . Michigan Carpenters Pension Fund 50.20% . Twin City Carpenters Pension Fund 50.20% . Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Northern California 50.00% . HERE Local 25 and Hotel Association of Washington, DC Pension 49.30% . Central States SE&SW 48.50% . Teamsters Pension Trust of Philadelphia and Vicinity 48.50%

. Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund 47.30% . Laborers District Council of W. PA Pension Fund 46.80% . Iron Workers Local No. 25 Pension Trust Fund 46.40% . Local 705 IB of T Pension Trust Fund 46.30% . Building Service 32B-J Pension Fund 42.30% . Carpenters Pension Trust Fund Detroit & Vicinity 41.40% . New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension 40.50% . FELRA and UFCW Pension Fund 39.80% . Local 804 I.B.T. and Local 447 IAM UPS Multi-employer Retirement Plan 39.70% . Sheet Metal Workers National Pension Fund 38.00%

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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.

He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston

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