Multiemployer Alert: Uncertainty persists for multiemployer pension plans

Many multiemployer pension plans will not be able to pay the full value of promised benefits to future retirees, and additional measures will be needed in order for them to do so. Of immediate concern is the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s multiemployer trust fund, which is expected to be exhausted by 2025, following the projected insolvency of the Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan and several other deeply troubled plans that are expected to become insolvent during the next six to seven years. These concerns led to the formation of the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. In November, a Joint Select Committee deadline to propose a solution came and went, with the committee chairs indicating the committee will continue its work toward a bipartisan solution.