Restructuring Occupational Pension Plans in Crisis: A US Labor–Management Case Study

Defined benefit pension funds in the United States experienced material declines in funded ratios in the past decade. The events of 2008 coincided with the implementation of a new federal pension funding regime, the Pension Protection Act of 2006. This case study describes a unique pension agreement between a major American labor union and the sixth largest American employer, involving the merger of four underfunded multiemployer pension plans that restructured the legacy benefits through a financial transaction and redesigned future benefits and funding policy.