Buying a company that has union employees

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August 17, 2025

by a searcher from Columbia University in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Does anyone here have experience with purchasing a company with union employees? Outside of Collective bargaining agreements, what should I be looking out for?
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Reply by a searcher
from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Austin, TX, USA
Look out for underfunded pensions (pension liability) that you might inherit.
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Reply by a searcher
from The University of Chicago in Nashville, TN, USA
Not all unions or union chapters are created equally. Ask for the last 3-years of grievances, that will give you an idea of the types of issues you may run into and how much friction there currently is between management and the union. Also keep in mind that "past practices" are often a point of contention with unions. They may not be in the written agreement but there will be historical precedence that will be treated as rules by most arbitrators. You need to dig into those very deeply, the grievances will be the first place to look. These would be extremely difficult to push back on if you don't have historical context when you come in.
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