Pension Action E-Newsletter

 

June 28, 2007

Senator Harkin Introduces Pension Bill
At a press conference today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) introduced the Restoring Pension Promises to Workers Act of 2007, which contains a number of provisions “to help ensure Americans’ pensions will be there for them when they retire.” For one, the bill would create an Office of Participant Advocacy, which would be a resource for people who are affected by shortcomings in the laws. The bill also includes a provision that would require companies that provide extravagant executive pay packages to maintain a defined benefit pension plan for their workers. There are also protections for employees whose divisions are sold, certain retired union members affected by pension cutbacks, and spouses of federal employees. Read Senator Harkin’s press release. Karen Friedman, PRC Policy Director, spoke at the press conference in support of the bill. Read her statement.

GE Retirees Win Huge Pension Victory
After years of picketing, rallies, and appearances at shareholder meetings, General Electric retirees won a huge victory when the company agreed to ask its board of directors to increase pensions for those who retired from the company on or before June 1, 2003. In the proposal, which was negotiated on behalf of retirees by the Communications Workers of America and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, those who have been retired longest would receive the largest increases. While the proposal falls far short of the amounts sought by the unions and retirees, it represents a significant increase for thousands of pensioners. Long-time GE employee Helen Quirini, estimates that her pension will increase by $130 per month if the proposal is approved. She notes that the pension fund is worth $55 billion and has a surplus of $15 billion and says, GE could easily afford to give retirees the full benefits and cost of living adjustments they need and deserve. Until they do, she says “our fight goes on.”

GE Union Employees Approve Pension Increase in New Contract
In contracts affecting more than 20,000 workers nationwide, the Communications Workers of America and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America have approved new contracts with GE for union employees. These contracts include significant benefit increases for future retirees. As part of the new contract, pensions for future retirees may increase by as much as 30 percent for some long-service hourly employees.

Congress Holds Hearing on N.F.L. Pensions
The House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held a June 26th hearing on whether National Football League pension and disability benefits are adequate for retired players. Benefits for former N.F.L. players have received much attention as the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund and other organizations have reached out to support retired NFL players in need. Read more about the auction that the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund held to support retired football players in the Grassroots Strategies section of our web site. Watch a video of the hearing.

Miller Brewing Company Employees Use Computer Savvy to Retain Pension Benefits
Using a web site and a variety of online strategies, including blogs and mass e-mails, to attract attention to their problem, the “Miller women” were able to protect their pensions and win some important concessions from the Miller Brewing Company. The women belong to Local 35 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, a union made up of mostly older women. Local 35 was the only union in the country for whom Miller proposed to freeze its pensions. Using the web site, www.millerwomen.com, the Miller women staged an online protest of the company’s actions and won not only an increase in their pensions, but also a reduction in the retirement age from 60 to 57. Watch the creative video they made to highlight their campaign.

Articles of Interest
Please note that some news web sites require free registration to read an entire article, and some links may expire within several days after the article's publication date. You can find other recent articles in the Pensions in the News and PRC in the News sections of our web site.