Congress is working on the improving situation with the pension funds after the collapse of UAL Corp.’s pension plan that was eventually dumped on the federal government. New act is expected to maintain all the necessary features to meet demands of furious unions.

The act will deal with the underfunded pension plans of such companies as UAL that left thousands of workers and retirees pinning their hopes on federal government.

Under the possible changes, the finances of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) will definitely grow, analysts predict. The PBGC, the federal agency that insures private-employer defined-benefit pension plans, is now facing a $6.6-billion pension underfunding left by UAL.

The PBGC’s last year in long-term obligations to pay workers’ pensions amounted to $62.3 billion. It also had $39 billion in assets taken over from failed employer plans.

The PBGC was formed in 1974 after some high-profile auto-industry bankruptcies, such as Studebaker-Packard Corp. The agency is aimed at guarantying defined-pension plans. The PBGC has about one million participants and is currently the trustee of 3,500 plans.