Retirees add to lawsuit
U.S. Treasury, Auto Task Force among new defendantsBy LARRY RINGLER / Tribune Chronicle
Delphi Corp.'s salaried retirees added some major targets, including the U.S. Treasury and the Auto Task Force and their leaders, to their lawsuit in federal district court, according to an amendment filed late Thursday afternoon.
Added as defendants were Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, former Auto Task Force ''Czar'' Steven Rattner and Ron Bloom, whom President Obama named manufacturing czar in September.
Also added was the new General Motors Corp., the smaller automaker that emerged in July from a government-sponsored Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The amendment was filed to address salaried retirees' claims of unequal treatment they've received from the federal government when their pension plan was turned over to federal insurer Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in August.
Many of the 15,000 salaried retirees nationally and 1,500 from Delphi Packard Electric face pension cuts of 30 to 70 percent because of limits on how much the PBGC can pay each retiree.
The salaried retirees' original lawsuit alleges the PBGC failed its duty to protect pensions because it gave up liens of $3.2 billion on Delphi's profitable overseas operations for $70 million, plus an unsecured claim for $3 billion in in bankuptcy court that could amount to nothing.
The amended suit charges the new defendants with violating the salaried retirees' Constitutional rights under the First and Fifth Amendments.
The alleged violation of the First Amendment involves denying the retirees the right of association, referring to union-represented Delphi hourly retirees who will receive full pensions under an agreement negotiated by their labor leaders in which GM agreed to ''top up'' their pensions - make up for what the PBGC won't pay. Salaried retirees were nonunion.
The fifth amendment protects equal treatment under the law, which a spokesman for the Delphi Packard group said didn't occur under the government-led $50 billion-plus bailout and bankruptcy of GM.
''We're asking for equal treatment with other retirees. Either force GM through the Treasury to top up our pensions, or divide equally funds for pension top-ups,'' Chuck Cunningham, a retired senior executive with Delphi Packard, said.
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Lotterydreamer
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11-07-09 10:27 PM
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The only hope anyone of us might have when getting screwed by the company is...NONE.Until we all combine our resources ,in that I mean,get it together.Minimum wage right on up. This was always the problem. Everybody thought their paycheck reflected their IQ, so common workers could never get along without animosity or contempt or snobbery for that matter. I hope you do change the law and make it illegal to go bankrupt and steal everyone's pension and health care during retirement. This is a hard slam at this time of life when choices become very limited. The best laid plans all go to h... and you work so hard for them. Our representatives should go after the bad guys, but they don't because the company has stayed within it's legal obligations. Maybe we need to start making corporations sign MORAL CONTRACTS.You will not screw your employees out of their retirement.
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superme
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11-07-09 8:23 PM
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My neighbor said he lost part of his pension this month. I know he retired as an hourly employee and I thought their benefits were safe. (for now.)
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enufalready
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11-06-09 10:31 AM
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I read in one article where a spokesperson for the salaried retirees stated that the average annual salary for a salaried person with 20-24 yrs working was $ 96.000. There is no way an hourly person got paid that in one year. I dont believe all the facts are out.
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enufalready
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11-06-09 10:28 AM
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While I do feel sorry for the delphi salaried retirees; I disagree with their position. Union retirees had contract language not only with delphi, but Gm as well to address their pension obligations,,salary did not. How can you ask for the same benefits as union when you clearly were not the same as them in terms of wages and benefits when you were working? Salaried retirees did receive a VEBA healthcare and an increase of $300 per month for medicare eligible retirees to cover any suppliments they would need. Union retirees did not. They are not telling the whole story. Plus, salaried retirees monthly pensions are a lot higher than their union counterparts.
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HubbardGuy
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11-06-09 8:54 AM
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They could have a problem with the equal protection under the law complaint. Both the salaried and union retirees are receiving benefits under the PBGC, as the law says they should. If GM as a private company is "topping off" the union pensions to make them whole, they can choose to do that. As much as we make fun of the situation, GM is not a government entity. I just hope everyone out there is taking this as a lesson to be learned. Provide for yourself and don't believe any government or corporate program will help you in retirement. I bet these retirees wish they had invested in IRA's.
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Nosympathy
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11-06-09 8:31 AM
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Hey Cvengros, if it hadn't been for Obama, there wouldn't have been a company to sue. Remember, both "W" and McCain were against any bailout at all. So is suing something that doesn't exist better than suing something that does?
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RetiredDrone
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11-06-09 2:20 AM
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Throw in the kitchen sink too, lol. Big mistake, these entities that you're "sueing" are among the most powerful in the world...GM and the U.S. Gov't. You're nothing but labor to them...an expendable commodity. By adding these "defendents", you now have absolutely no chance whatsoever, lol. Again, big mistake, but your lawyers are loving it, lol. (-:
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