Better Laws Needed to Protect Pensions

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.)

Exclusive to CWA News

Last spring, in the largest pension plan termination in U.S. history, United Airlines dumped over $6 billion in unfunded pension liabilities onto the federal government. Together, United's flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, and other workers lost over $3 billion in retirement benefits that they had already earned. Some retirees lost half or more of their monthly income.

Now United Airlines is exiting bankruptcy, having rid itself of its workers' pension plans and bestowed massive new compensation packages on its top executives.

This story is threatening to repeat itself as companies seek to cut costs by targeting employee benefits. But we must not let it. Congress needs to pass common-sense reforms with one simple principle in mind: pensions are a promise to be kept.

Companies must not be allowed to exploit the bankruptcy process to squeeze workers out of their hard-earned pensions while rewarding executives with lavish golden parachutes. It's time that executives share the pain that workers have been feeling.

Nor should companies be allowed to use bankruptcy to terminate salvageable plans. Companies should be required to engage in good faith negotiating with unions to exhaust all possible alternatives before terminating pension plans, a move that must remain an absolute last resort.

Workers and retirees must not be shut out of the bankruptcy process. While bankruptcy gives a corporation a clean slate, employees who dedicated 30 years of their life to a company, just five years from retirement, do not have that luxury. Workers' voices should be heard.

Congress is set to consider deeply flawed pension reform legislation in the next couple months. Congress needs to improve it before it becomes law. For starters, Congress should include common-sense provisions that stop companies from dumping their plans and bring some fairness to the pension system.

We cannot allow United Airlines' actions to become a model for other companies. Executives must be held accountable. Retirement promises made to workers must not be broken. Workers' hands must be strengthened. America can, and must, do a better job protecting workers' pensions.