Macomb County v. AFSCME Council 25

Respondents-appellants employ members of the charging party-appellee labor unions. Pursuant to their respective collective-bargaining agreements (CBAs), respondents provide pension benefits to their employees. The CBAs provide the employees with various pension plan options, including one in which payments terminate at the death of the employee (straight-life pension) and another in which pension benefits continue until the death of both the employee and his or her spouse (joint- and-survivor pension or optional benefits plan). Since 1982, a particular mortality table was used to calculate…