Pension Action E-Newsletter

November 14, 2007

General Electric Announces Increase to Pensions of 130,000 Retirees
Thanks to the hard work of many activists, including Helen Quirini, Kevin Mahar, and Bill Freeda, GE retirees will receive a pension increase beginning in December. According to a press release, many retirees will receive a 10 to 20 percent increase that will most benefit those who have been retired from the company for 15 years or more. Still, the retirees say this increase isn’t enough. This is only the eighth increase the company has made to retiree pensions since 1980, and the company has not instituted annual cost-of-living increases that would adjust retiree pensions for inflation.

House Committee on Ways and Means Posts Online Retirement Savings Survey
In an effort to find out how much information the general public needs and wants to know about the fees its retirement savings plans charge, the House Committee on Ways and Means has posted an online survey. The survey includes questions intended to get a general idea of the information participants in retirement savings plans want to know about the funds in which they invest. Take the survey to let the Committee know what you think.

Changes in Pensions for Bethlehem Steel Retirees
Due to faulty estimates, some Bethlehem Steel retirees will have to pay back a part of the pension payments that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the federal agency that insures most private pensions, has paid them. When Bethlehem Steel Corporation went bankrupt in 2002, the pensions of more than 95,000 retirees were assumed by the PBGC. In an effort to provide uninterrupted pension payments to Bethlehem Steel retirees, the PBGC estimated what each retiree should receive. Having finally completed its calculations, the PBGC has now discovered that some Bethlehem Steel retirees were overpaid and owe money to the PBGC, others were underpaid and will receive lump-sum payments for the amount the PBGC underpaid them, and others will see no change. For more information on your Bethlehem Steel pensions, contact the PBGC.

Ford and UAW Agree to Pension Increases in New Contract
In a contract that must be ratified by the more than 54,000 members of the United Auto Workers Union, current and future Ford retires will see pension increases. Like its contracts with Chrysler and General Motors, the United Auto Workers Union contract with Ford includes the creation of a Voluntary Employee Benefits Association health care trust.

Persistent Retiree Gets Her Pension
A retiree who worked for an Illinois hospital recently did some digging and found out that she and many of her coworkers had pensions waiting for them. Find out more by reading Persistence Pays Off for Pension at Proctor, which can be found in the Pensions in the News section of our web site.

Other Articles of Interest