Western Union to pay $4.1M to shore up retirement plan

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/08/17/da...

Friday, August 21, 2009, 11:29am MDT | Modified: Friday, August 21, 2009, 11:30am

The Western Union Co. will pay $4.1 million by Sept. 11 to strengthen funding of its retirement plan, federal the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. said Friday.

The agreement stems from the shutdown of Douglas County-based Western Union's (NYSE: WU) customer call center in Bridgeton, Mo., in August 2008.

A total of 153 of the facility's 351 employees lost their jobs, amounting to a 44 percent reduction in the Bridgeton location's workforce, according to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC).

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires the PBGC to seek additional protection when more than 20 percent of a company's employees covered by a pension plan lose their jobs through closure of a facility.

FULL story at link.