The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal backstop for pension plans, has approved the merger of two Laborers’ International Union of North America pension funds in New York state, one of which was in serious financial trouble.
The PBGC’s merger approval, which it announced on Jan. 14, is its first under the 2014 Multiemployer Pension Reform Act. The two plans are the Local 1000 Pension Fund, which covers more than 400 participants, and the Local 235 Pension Plan, which has more than 1,100 participants.