Dayton Daily News - Congressman Call for Hearings on Treatment of Delphi Retirees

News Article

By Thomas Gnau

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner and an Indiana congressman are calling for House oversight hearings into the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp.'s takeover of Delphi retiree pensions.

In 2009, Delphi cut health and life insurance to its salaried retirees and turned all retiree pensions over to the federally backed PBGC, a move that means cuts of up to 70 percent to pensions of salaried retirees. The move affected thousands of local retirees.

Last fall, a federal judge let a retirees' lawsuit against the federal government over the issue go forward. And a special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the Government Accountability Office agreed to examine why only salaried pensions are being cut while some hourly pensions are bolstered by General Motors.

According to Turner's office, Turner and U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., have written to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman to ask the committee to hold hearings into the PBGC's actions.

In particular, the congressmen ask the committee to explore why one union -- the United Auto Workers -- had its pensions fully "topped off" by GM, Delphi's former owner, to prevent those members from seeing reduced payments once the PBGC took over their pensions.

Meanwhile, salaried retirees still face pension reductions of up to 70 percent, and other unions -- such as the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communication Workers of America -- receive reduced benefits, the congressmen note.

None of these pension decisions were made by a bankruptcy court, the letter adds. Delphi emerged from four years of Chapter 11 protection in October 2009.

"Congress has a responsibility to exercise its oversight authority in this matter," Turner and Burton wrote in a their letter, which was released by Turner's office.

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