Unionized employers participating in an underfunded multiemployer pension plan face significant financial exposure when withdrawing (completely or partially) from the plan.  The cost (called “withdrawal liability”) is generally based on the employer’s pro rata share of the pension plan’s unfunded vested benefits and typically amounts to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.  This withdrawal

An employer’s permanent cessation of contributions to a multiemployer pension plan can trigger withdrawal liability. This liability may reach affiliated trades or businesses with sufficient common ownership to be under “common control” with the employer. The affiliates would be jointly and severally liable for withdrawal liability incurred and unpaid by the withdrawing affiliate.

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