Nonunion Auto Retirees Cry Foul in Treasury Deal; Ex-Delphi Workers Cite Pension Inequity

Byline: William Ehart and Andrea Billups, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Decades ago, when Deborah Hampton was a young divorced mother of two, her father encouraged her to go to work for his employer, General Motors Corp.

Just as GM used to be considered a safe stock that parents could buy to help secure their children's financial future, it also used to be a company where a concerned father could feel his daughter's future was secure.

Thirty-one years later, Mrs. Hampton is set to lose as much as $1,700 of her monthly pension from auto-parts supplier Delphi Corp., which was spun off from GM in 1999. Her employer-provided health insurance - Mrs. Hampton has diabetes and a family history of glaucoma - was canceled last month.

Every morning you wake up and go, 'Oh, my God, here's another day of struggle,'" said the 59-year-old grandmother from Grand Blanc, Mich. I say my prayers every day at the same time for a half an hour. I ask, 'Please don't let us spiral into poverty.'"

The former executive secretary and 22,000 other Delphi salaried retirees understand these are hard times for everyone, especially those in the auto industry - but they feel discriminated against because they did not belong to a union.

That's because GM is making up a $4.3 billion pension shortfall for its union workers and retirees who split …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Nonunion Auto Retirees Cry Foul in Treasury Deal; Ex-Delphi Workers Cite Pension Inequity. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: December 24, 2009. Page number: A01. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.