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Retirees Beware
We
don't need to tell you that pensions in industry are the latest target for cuts
in industry. Airlines are seeking cuts to zero pensions. General Motors and Ford
are complaining how pension costs are about to put them out of business. And, in
the case of airlines, federal courts are making decisions requiring unions to
accept total pension cancellation. It
is reported that the Federal Guarantee Pension Board will supply something like
70% of pension payments. But they also point out the Board is running into
deficits that will require further cuts along the line. This is clearly a brutal
path to bankruptcy for thousands of workers now and more in the future.
To guarantee
that bankrupt workers wont be able to even use bankruptcy to avoid total
impoverishment, Bush got Congress to abolish the saving grace of Chapter 7
Bankruptcy law, that allowed people to get out of debt.
Now bankruptcy can be declared only under Chapter which requires
repayment of court decided portions of debt.
This can be followed by "debt courts" of medieval times when
you were thrown in prison for being too poor to pay up.
JAMES
SPINOSA, International president of the ILWU pointed out in his column in the
last DISPATCHER:
"So
when employers look around for weak links in the chains restraining their
profits, they are turning more and more to retirees. They figure if unions are
having harder times defending their active and dues-paying members, how much
easier a target are retired workers? It's not like they can strike or otherwise
take economic action against the company. They are usually not organized and
often geographically scattered after leaving their jobs.
In the heartless landscape of corporate board rooms, they are almost too
tempting to turn down."
The ILWU has always built pension clubs to avoid just such corporate
threats. It is now payoff time. We need, and will need our Old Timers clubs to
defend our pensions. The last contract, ending 2008, increased our pensions and
continued our welfare and benefits. That is testimony to the strength of our
union. But come 2008, what will the picture be? If the Republicans win the
election, we can expect wholesale attacks against unions. Pensions, wages, hours
and living standards will suffer an all out attack on every front. In fact, the
corporate world will, along with attacking unions, will attack democracy and the
U.S.A. as we know it. We better get our union priorities lined up, keep our
powder dry and be geared up for battle.
There seems
to be no peaceful way out of the mess Bush is dumping on us.
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