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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (41373)	10/1/2000 11:43:16 PM
From: nihil	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769669

Few unions provide death benefits. It is illegal for unions to run pension plans that are collectively bargained (unless they were established before 1947 -- like the UMW). Many of the older collective bargaining agreements have joint union management plans for employees (such as UAW & GM). Their benefit formulas differ, but a common form is a few dollars per year of service. These are funded by direct employer contributions and are "defined benefit plans." Many of them were originally underfunded, but legislation not only required funding but also vesting provisions. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation insures them (for a fee) but regulates the plans so the planned benefits are within the capacity of the plans. Plans have been terminated if the employers cannot provide the necessary funding (and the unions are not able to coerce the company into contributing enough). No rational employer (or union IMO) would enter into such a plan today. Today no employer does more than guarantee to make certain contributions (defined contribution plan) and none I know guarantee any benefits at all. Many public employee plans are defined benefit plans and relative generous. Formerly, nearly all were underfunded by many billions of dollars and disasters waiting to happen. Today, many of them are overfunded, and the public employers have been cutting contributions. The public funds are not much regulated by the federal government.