AT&T plans to put $9.5B into pension fund

U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T said it planned to use preferred equity shares to contribute $9.5 billion to a retirees' pension trust fund. The plan requires approval from the Labor Department, which will review the risk associated with a pension fund contribution that could lose value should the company's share values decline, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. However, AT&T is a large, stable company whose share values are unlikely to collapse, the newspaper said. The company said in a regulatory filing it has 240,000 employees. The pension plan affects 600,000 of its retirees, the Journal said. The contribution "means a strong future for the fund" said the Communications Workers of America, the union that represents hundreds of thousands of AT&T workers and retirees. AT&T was making the move "at a time when some companies are eliminating or underfunding their pension plans," a union spokeswoman said.