Senate ‘outraged’ by retirees’ case

Senators on a committee dealing with pension issues reacted indignantly after hearing testimony from a Delphi Packard Electric salaried retiree about looming steep cuts in their pensions, the group's spokesman said Thursday.

''The sense of outrage among senators was obvious,'' Bruce Gump said after his testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, or HELP, Committee in the Dirksen Building.

Gump said the committee's highest-ranking Republican, Michael B. Enzi, vowed to demand documentation about Delphi Corp.'s bankruptcy from the U.S. Treasury on Thursday.

''The fact we were able to get the attention of the Senator is an outstanding achievement, and I have good reason to believe will lead to resolution of the issue,'' said Gump, 58, an engineer with more than 33 years with electrical wiring harness maker Delphi Packard in Warren.

The outrage in the Senate will make the issue ''more of a political hot potato and the kind of thing that people pay attention to. That's what we're after - the attention of the legislative branch so they will work directly with the (Obama) Administration to resolve it,'' Gump said.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who sits on the committee, said the retirees feel ''betrayed by the system that was supposed to protect them'' and are looking for ''fair treatment.'' He said he will join other senators in trying to ''strengthen and secure our defined benefit pension system.''

Retirees planned to follow up the Senate hearing by meeting today with Ed Montgomery, who directs the government's task force to help auto communities and workers.

''He's closest person we're likely to get in contact with from the administration,'' he said.

Gump said they also expect to make their case in front of a House of Representatives committee. No date has been set, but he said it likely will happen in the next few weeks.

''It's a wonderful thing that we live in a country where we can petition our government for redress of grievances,'' he said, praising the Warren Legislative Group, which he chairs, and other retirees for drawing Congressional attention to their situation.

U.S. Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Niles, who introduced Gump at the hearing and is working on the House hearing, said he will ''continue to work to ensure that the Delphi retirees have their story heard.''

Many of the 20,000-plus Delphi salaried retirees across the country - 1,500 from Delphi Packard - stand to lose 30 percent to 70 percent of their pension after the auto parts maker turned over the plan to the federal insurer Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. July 31.

Average Delphi salaried retirees could lose $300,000-plus over their lifetime, pushing them to or below the edge of poverty, Gump told the committee. He cited numbers compiled by Frank Akpadock, senior research associate of Youngstown State University's Center for Urban and Regional Studies, showing the economic hit to the Mahoning Valley will exceed $161 million a year, including extra health care costs facing the 1,056 retirees still in the area. Some 4,830 jobs in retail, food and other sectors the area's economy that depend on retirees' spending also are at risk.

Gump told the committee that no other group of workers or workers in the government-led bankruptcy of former Delphi parent General Motors Corp. has sacrificed to the extent of the Delphi salaried retirees. All other worker groups will get 100 percent of of their pensions through union negotiated agreements in which GM will make up for the PBGC shortfall.

Gump said the PBGC illegally gave up the lien worth as much as $3.4 billion it had placed on Delphi's profitable overseas assets in order to protect the pensions after Delphi's October 2005 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

In return, the federal insurer received ''a mere $70 million'' in cash from GM and a $3 billion unsecured bankruptcy claim from Delphi - a claim the insurer had to realize would ultimately pay nothing, he told the committee.

''They took this action knowing that they would have to assume billions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities and drastically reduce the pensions of Delphi retirees,'' Gump told the senators, adding the retirees believe that action violated federal law that protects pensions.

PBGC spokesman Jeffrey Speicher declined to comment on the allegation, which Delphi salaried retirees are pursuing with a law suit in federal district court in Detroit.

He said the agency, which took over Delphi's pension hourly and salaried plans Aug. 10 after its termination, didn't send a representative to the Senate hearing because it wasn't invited.

A major concern for salaried retirees is the length of time the PBGC will take to calculate their new pension. Retirees will continue to get their current amount until any changes are calculated. If they're entitled to less money, the extra amount they received will be deducted from their pension checks for the rest of their life. The amount that has to be be repaid could run into the thousands of dollars, the longer the calculation takes, Gump said.

A representative of the U.S. Government Accountability Office who spoke at the hearing said the PBGC could take as long as nine years to calculate the amount.

Speicher said it took longer in previous decades for the agency to run the calculations but that the average time with modern technology is two to three years.

He noted some factors, such as when a bankruptcy settlement is totally finished, are beyond the agency's control but said, ''We've done a good job reducing the time it takes to calculate'' benefits.

lringler@tribtoday.com

Member Comments

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9255285
11-05-09 2:39 PM »Report Abuse	alex12- I'm sorry about your mom losing her pension. But did any Grinnel retirees write non-stop to every Congressman, Senator and rep in their state to try to get help? Did they write to anyone and everyone in Washington. Did they hire attorneys to stop what was happening? Did they form an assoc. to help in their cause? Did anyone fight at all? And you're right anniemae, most were in essence fired, not retired. Big difference!
alex12
11-02-09 2:31 PM »Report Abuse	I just wonder why nothing ever happens in the Warren area until it effects the employees of Delphi Packard Electric or GM. I grew up in Warren and in the 80's when the steel mills and other plants, ITT Grinnel went out of business no one was fighting for anything. My mother lost her pension then but who cared? I am happy for the progress but it should have happened long ago. I get so sick of the cry babies at these two plants who have been over paid for years. They never looked out for thier fellow neighbors who lost jobs and pensions.
BrewSlugger
10-31-09 11:47 PM »Report Abuse	I have listened to every interview that Traficant has given since his release and he seems genuinely concerned for America and for the salaried Delphi retirees. Tim Ryan seems to be concerned about following party lines (and Pelosi). Why has he not signed on to HR 1207 to audit the privately owned Federal Reserve bank? I do hope that Jim Traficant runs for Congress. As he has stated, he fulfills all qualifications for running.
XANADU440
10-31-09 10:53 PM »Report Abuse	Overtaxed: Good Question !
47ocs60
10-30-09 10:38 PM »Report Abuse	Yep thats the ticket Put Jimbo Trafficunt back in office, after all his horse farm got run down while he was in PRISON and he needs help in fixing it up again
Swelterstat
10-30-09 8:51 PM »Report Abuse	frist let me ask those of you that think tim ryans so great is what has he done for the people of the valley??? nothing that i see or remember...if hes so great why hasnt he gotten off his back end and stepped up for the workers at warrens severstal steel ????? its been a year since lay offs begin..why is it No one seems to care about the workin americas or retirees until it hits home..Mr Ryan i think they should vote you out as well as the others who sit and do nothing.........
AnotherOvertaxedResident
10-30-09 7:33 PM »Report Abuse	How many people are outraged by the senate proposing a 1 trillion dollar health care program?
Dvlschild1961
10-30-09 7:08 PM »Report Abuse	Why aren't they outraged at the shape of this entire country??? Big show, then pffffttt!!! Off to holiday break!
princeoftheinternet
10-30-09 7:06 PM »Report Abuse	I am glad to hear that they were "outraged." What are they going to do about it? I believe it is time for Timmy to go, but it will do no good, we can only vote out our congressman and senators, they all need to go. Unless a major overhaul is done this kind of thing will happen again and again. System is broke for working families and it needs fixed, not just here in this area, but overall in this country. There is no difference any more between Democrats and Republicans, politicans are all the same, they look out for their interests and those of big business.
RetiredDrone
10-30-09 4:01 PM »Report Abuse	lol mong, the system isn't broken, the system is hilarious. As long as we continue to support it, we can only blame ourselves, lol. "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got". lol (-:
RetiredDrone
10-30-09 3:52 PM »Report Abuse	Delphi paying 15,000 - 20,000 people anywhere from, say, $2000 to $4000 per month for the next 20 or 30 years. I don't know if this is fiscally possible. Something like that could push the company into bankruptcy. (-:
truthmonger
10-30-09 3:52 PM »Report Abuse	I agree with the outrage. In spite of bankruptcy, if Del[phi can reorganze and continue to make profits they should have to pay the retirees their due based on the contract. If you or I defaulted on a bank loan, we could not go bankrupt and tell the bank, "sorry". We would have to repay it as soon as we became financially solvent again. My brother lost $100K in stocks invested in KMart when they went under, but now they are still in business...how so? They took everybody's money and "lost" it, then started back in business again? The system is broken.
Billdog
10-30-09 12:53 PM »Report Abuse	Sorry, 58 years old.
OhioBLUE
10-30-09 12:41 PM »Report Abuse	Finally this community is starting to realize that this fight is for EVERYONE. We can't change the injustice that was done in the past, but hopefully thanks to he hard work of the HOURLY and SALARY retirees fighting this fight, no one will have to face this again. An injustice to one is an injustice to all. Retirees UNITED!!
Billdog
10-30-09 11:42 AM »Report Abuse	Mark one up for the working man. It is time that working people get what was promised to them. This isn't a free ride. Although only 48, he worked for the same company for 30 years. He deserves what was promised him. If everybody lost the pensions that was promised them over the years, then people like grump would have his in-laws and parents to support until he died from overworking. We have a great country that the working class loose more and more everyday. It is time to reverse this trend. If we don't our children will work like our great grandparents did. Until they die, for pennies.
RetiredDrone
10-30-09 11:16 AM »Report Abuse	populus, lol. (-:
anniemae
10-30-09 10:04 AM »Report Abuse	I give credit to Bruce Gump...perserverance paid off for him & his committee. I don't think he retired on his own....he, like many others, were forced out & escorted out of the office by plant security. (like crooks) You would never see that happen with UAW. Tim Ryan is trying now to assist, because it's polling time. We elected those "do nothings" to office & pay their salaries. Why shouldn't they defend the populus??????
Roy123
10-30-09 9:23 AM »Report Abuse	First of all Mr. Gump would not have been in Washington if Senator Brown had not arranged it. Also he was introduced by Congressman Ryan who was by his side. I'm glad Mr. Gump got Senator Enzi attention but let's give credit where credit is do. To Senator Brown & Congressman Ryan.
pahootaman
10-30-09 9:22 AM »Report Abuse	I gotta hand it to the Delphi reps that came to Washington. They weren't expecting a govt. handout nor were they going to sit down and biatch and moan about how their company screwed them. They went throught the proper process and had their day in DC. Maybe some of you armchair politicans should take note on what these guys did.
enufalready
10-30-09 8:59 AM »Report Abuse	Joe,,as for that ant moving a rubber tree plant,,isnt that what the delphi hourly retirees did? They got their top off to their pension. Never underestimate the will of the people.
Moeprops
10-30-09 8:40 AM »Report Abuse	Wow our elected officials actually took time to hear a complaint from the people they work for. We should be so honored. Vote them all out office, including Timmy.
HUNTER
10-30-09 8:27 AM »Report Abuse	thats right grump It's time for Jimbo to return to his congressional seat .*****yea it time . and thinker it no different then the criminals running our government now.
dabigguy
10-30-09 8:18 AM »Report Abuse	58 and retired. Wow, the boy guy's got it rough. The inhumanity of it all. Get a job.
Thinker
10-30-09 7:40 AM »Report Abuse	That's right, OMG, anyone who gets screwed over for their pension should just shrug their shoulders, and be happy they have their health! You are abominable, and prove it by endorsing the criminal Traficant.
DrSpankit
10-30-09 7:22 AM »Report Abuse	Puff the magic dragon?

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