Teamsters Pension Fund Cleared to Expel Penske Truck Worker Unit

A Teamsters pension fund validly expelled a bargaining unit covering employees of Penske Truck Leasing Co., the Seventh Circuit ruled, boosting the fund’s chances of collecting tens of millions of dollars more in withdrawal liability.

The relevant trust agreement “contemplates the expulsion of a single bargaining unit” and suggests the pension fund “need not formally terminate an entire agreement” to expel one unit, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said Friday. Penske argued that allowing this conduct would be unfair to employers with multiple bargaining units, but “rules often affect people differently” while still operating uniformly, ...