Waste Management 2014 Annual Report Download - page 101

A cybersecurity incident could negatively impact our business and our relationships with customers.
We use computers in substantially all aspects of our business operations. We also use mobile devices, social
networking and other online activities to connect with our employees and our customers. Such uses give rise to
cybersecurity risks, including security breach, espionage, system disruption, theft and inadvertent release of
information. Our business involves the storage and transmission of numerous classes of sensitive and/or
confidential information and intellectual property, including customers’ personal information, private
information about employees, and financial and strategic information about the Company and its business
partners. We also rely on a Payment Card Industry compliant third party to protect our customers’ credit card
information. Further, as the Company pursues its strategy to grow through acquisitions and to pursue new
initiatives that improve our operations and cost structure, the Company is also expanding and improving its
information technologies, resulting in a larger technological presence and corresponding exposure to
cybersecurity risk. If we fail to assess and identify cybersecurity risks associated with acquisitions and new
initiatives, we may become increasingly vulnerable to such risks. Additionally, while we have implemented
measures to prevent security breaches and cyber incidents, our preventative measures and incident response
efforts may not be entirely effective. The theft, destruction, loss, misappropriation, or release of sensitive and/or
confidential information or intellectual property, or interference with our information technology systems or the
technology systems of third parties on which we rely, could result in business disruption, negative publicity,
brand damage, violation of privacy laws, loss of customers, potential liability and competitive disadvantage.
Our operating expenses could increase as a result of labor unions organizing or changes in regulations
related to labor unions.
Labor unions continually attempt to organize our employees, and these efforts will likely continue in the
future. Certain groups of our employees are currently represented by unions, and we have negotiated collective
bargaining agreements with these unions. Additional groups of employees may seek union representation in the
future, and, if successful, the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements could divert management attention
and result in increased operating expenses and lower net income. If we are unable to negotiate acceptable
collective bargaining agreements, our operating expenses could increase significantly as a result of work
stoppages, including strikes. Any of these matters could adversely affect our financial condition, results of
operations and cash flows.
We could face significant liabilities for withdrawal from multiemployer pension plans.
We are a participating employer in a number of trustee-managed multiemployer, defined benefit pension
plans for employees who are covered by collective bargaining agreements. The risks of participating in these
multiemployer plans are different from single-employer plans in that (i) assets contributed to the multiemployer
plan by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees or former employees of other participating
employers; (ii) if a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan
may be required to be assumed by the remaining participating employers and (iii) if we choose to stop
participating in any of our multiemployer plans, we may be required to pay those plans a withdrawal amount
based on the underfunded status of the plan.
In connection with our ongoing renegotiations of various collective bargaining agreements, we may discuss
and negotiate for the complete or partial withdrawal from one or more of these pension plans. Further, business
events, such as the discontinuation or nonrenewal of a customer contract, the decertification of a union, or
relocation, reduction or discontinuance of certain operations, which result in the decline of Company
contributions to a multiemployer pension plan, could trigger a partial or complete withdrawal. In the event of a
withdrawal, we may incur expenses associated with our obligations for unfunded vested benefits at the time of
the withdrawal. Various factors affect our liabilities for a plan’s underfunded status, including the numbers of
retirees and active workers in the plan, the ongoing solvency of participating employers, the investment returns
obtained on plan assets, and the ratio of our historical participation in such plan to all employers’ historical
participation; depending on such factors, future withdrawals could have a material adverse effect on results of
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