The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. says its financial help—and potential future exposure—to failing multi-employer pension funds has climbed. Multi-employer plans are common in construction's unionized sector, covering more than three million of the industry's workers and retirees.
PBGC, a federal agency that assists or takes over troubled pension plans, projects in its fiscal 2011 report that the number of insolvent multi-employer plans will more than double in five years.