Cooper Fattens Pension Plan Ahead of Albany Plant Closure

An extra US$39 million will go into Cooper Tire & Rubber’s pension plan to cover its obligations when the company’s Albany factory closes later this year. In an agreement made with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., announced on August 12, Cooper will fulfil its $62 million obligation by contributing $39 million to the pension plan and waiving its $23 million credit for past over funding.

Around 1,300 people are employed at the Albany factory. Under federal pension law, when plant closings result in job losses for more than 20 percent of covered workers, the company must make additional contributions to its pension plan. The PBGC, a US federal corporation, said it encourages companies to contact the agency before embarking upon a plant closure. “The PBGC keeps a constant watch for corporate actions that can put pensions and the pension insurance program at greater risk,” said PBGC acting director Vince Snowbarger in a statement. “But in this instance, when Cooper Tire planned to close their Albany facility, they approached us to negotiate suitable pension funding protections like those announced today.”