An Unpalatable Plan to Rescue Failing Pensions
Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 7:51 pm
With more pensions crumbling and their government backstop at risk, a coalition of employers and labor, including United Parcel Service (UPS), Bechtel, and the United Food and Commercial Workers union, wants permission to do what once was unthinkable: cut benefits to retirees before the plans get into trouble. This would be a huge change. By law, employers can’t reduce accrued benefits, which have long been considered untouchable. “It’s the first attempt by an industry or a sector of the economy to really address what’s going to come back and bite us as a country,”? says Randy DeFrehn, co-author of the group’s “Solutions, Not Bailouts”? lobbying campaign. “If you allow some of these plans to have flexibility, they can take action instead of waiting until the assets are depleted.”?
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... -necessary
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... -necessary