Two years ago, I wrote an editorial for another magazine that addressed the problem of an aging American workforce beginning to retire and the lack of funding in their pension plans. This was (and still is) a major issue across industries in the U.S. and has been an ongoing issue largely on the commercial side of the HVAC industry.

Back then, this was referred to as “unfunded liabilities,” meaning workers at unionized commercial HVAC contracting firms who had union-backed (multiemployer) pension plans faced the growing probability their retirement funds wouldn’t be there when they retired. The reason: The plans didn’t have enough savings or investments behind them to keep them solvent.