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Consumer Reports: Do As We Say, Not As We Do
The good advice Consumer Reports magazine doles out to readers about secure pension funds evidently does not apply to its own workers, who include members of TNG-CWA 31003 in New York City.
About 25 Guild members, including workers who test products and write articles, recently handed out leaflets exposing the company's practices to people attending the annual meeting of the magazine's publisher, Consumers Union. The leaflets were titled: "Consumer Reports Exposed: How CU Executives Lost $59 million for Members While Rewarding Themselves."
"Consumers Union is guilty of gross hypocrisy in its employee pension plan," Local 31003 President Barry Lipton said. "What it advises readers about financial security and what it expects its employees to accept are two very different propositions."
Consumer Reports has written that defined-benefit pension plans are "as close to a sure thing as you can get… one of the most solid assets you can have."
Yet the company wants to take away its workers' defined benefit plan and replace it with a defined contribution plan similar to a 401(k). Such plans have taken a beating in the stock market recently and forced tens of thousands of retirees to continue working.
"CU is fond of playing the role of defender of the little guy," said Bill South, CU unit chair of the Guild, "but when push comes to shove, the little guys at Consumers Union are at the mercy of a management that has proven itself both incompetent and irresponsible."
South said CU ran up $59 million in operating losses between 1992 and 2001, including $9.4 million last year alone. He points to fat bonuses and raises for top managers as one reason.
For instance, he said former CU President Rhoda Karpatkin was given a $240,000 bonus when she retired in 1998, even though she failed to control costs. Also, five senior managers gave themselves 13.3 percent raises last year; average workers received just 3.25 percent.
Further, any raises workers may receive when the present contract talks are settled will likely be offset by increases the company is seeking in employees' share of health insurance premiums.
"It's wrong for CU to try to balance its books and make up for its past financial mismanagement on the backs of the working men and women who keep this organization running," South said.
About 25 Guild members, including workers who test products and write articles, recently handed out leaflets exposing the company's practices to people attending the annual meeting of the magazine's publisher, Consumers Union. The leaflets were titled: "Consumer Reports Exposed: How CU Executives Lost $59 million for Members While Rewarding Themselves."
"Consumers Union is guilty of gross hypocrisy in its employee pension plan," Local 31003 President Barry Lipton said. "What it advises readers about financial security and what it expects its employees to accept are two very different propositions."
Consumer Reports has written that defined-benefit pension plans are "as close to a sure thing as you can get… one of the most solid assets you can have."
Yet the company wants to take away its workers' defined benefit plan and replace it with a defined contribution plan similar to a 401(k). Such plans have taken a beating in the stock market recently and forced tens of thousands of retirees to continue working.
"CU is fond of playing the role of defender of the little guy," said Bill South, CU unit chair of the Guild, "but when push comes to shove, the little guys at Consumers Union are at the mercy of a management that has proven itself both incompetent and irresponsible."
South said CU ran up $59 million in operating losses between 1992 and 2001, including $9.4 million last year alone. He points to fat bonuses and raises for top managers as one reason.
For instance, he said former CU President Rhoda Karpatkin was given a $240,000 bonus when she retired in 1998, even though she failed to control costs. Also, five senior managers gave themselves 13.3 percent raises last year; average workers received just 3.25 percent.
Further, any raises workers may receive when the present contract talks are settled will likely be offset by increases the company is seeking in employees' share of health insurance premiums.
"It's wrong for CU to try to balance its books and make up for its past financial mismanagement on the backs of the working men and women who keep this organization running," South said.