"....the United States Labor Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Portland members of the Oregon Laborers Union, part of the A.F.L.- C.I.O., all filed civil suits against the trustees of the union's retirement funds, seeking to recover $225 million in losses.

The government says in its filings that the losses resulted from what it calls a "Ponzi- like scheme," where fresh investments were used to disguise earlier shortfalls. Government officials say they are continuing to investigate the losses in accounts that until recently were thought to be worth about $1 billion.

Pension experts say the case illustrates the vulnerability of retirement funds. But a bill up for a vote in Congress as early as tomorrow would curtail the mailing of reports and make it harder to discover schemes, some union members say. "We counted heavily on those disclosures," said Larry Miller, one of the two workers in whose name 15,000 union members have brought their suit..."

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