Dems’ ‘unheard-of’ pension gift and other commentary

Labor beat: Dems’ ‘Unheard-Of’ Pension Gift

At The New York Times, Mary Williams Walsh and Alan Rappeport ­report that the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief bill provides an $86 billion bailout for private-union pension funds that has absolutely “nothing to do with the pandemic.” The money lets these funds pay retirees their full pensions — and comes with no strings attached. Such use of “taxpayer dollars” is “almost unheard-of.” To cut employers’ labor costs and free up money for wages, many of these plans for years promised benefits “without setting aside enough money to pay for them,” hoping to make up the shortfall via aggressive investing. Yet “in bear markets they lose a lot of money,” and struggling employers can’t afford to chip in more. Alas, “the legislation does nothing to change that dynamic.”