PENSION TALK


Most people starting out in life at their first work place really don’t give much thought to retirement. Honestly, the last thing on a young person’s mind the first day on a new job is what he or she is going to receive when they retire. People focus on how much money they are making and what hours they have to work before that first check comes. Most people don’t really think about things like retirement or pensions until they are old and life starts passing them by.

Most of us at Delta took our pensions for granted. It was something we kind of understood and in the old days when we assembled at our annual benefit “dog and pony show,” we listened but, quite frankly, didn’t pay much attention.

Since our pensions were frozen recently during bankruptcy, we’ve all been forced to take a harder look and reassess our financial future. Some of us wonder why Delta for so long had under-funded our retirement accounts but somehow found enough money to guarantee our ex-CEO’s retirement package. As you might remember, Leo Mullin, on his first day at Delta, was given a vested retirement package of 25 years. Upon leaving Delta, he and many of his cronies took millions of dollars with them and took care of all their retirement needs.

I am sure that many of you have had the chance to read Rich Cordell’s latest rambling letter regarding IAM union activity as it pertains to pensions. In this letter Mr. Cordell actually had the gall to brag about championing the efforts to save our pensions.

I wouldn’t call freezing our pensions forever, not having them grow at all since Dec. of last year, much of an accomplishment. Under funding our pensions for years and then not funding them at all is not a solution for our retirement years. It’s a recipe for shared financial disaster.

When Mr. Cordell tells you that union dues don’t pay for IAM pensions, he is right, he states that “unions have to bargain with the employees’ company to convince that company to contribute to the pension plan.” That’s exactly what IAM did with bankrupt carriers United, U.S. Airways, Northwest and Aloha. All these carriers negotiated with IAM to start new pension programs for their employees. We, at Delta, with no representation, have not started new pension programs. What we do have is many unfulfilled promises, or as Mr. Cordell states; “A competitive package is on the way.”

The IAM pension program, (National Pension Fund) was created to cover many companies. This fund is jointly managed by an equal number of union and company trustees and is independently staffed by professionals. The last thing we need is a new “competitive package” run by the same greedy, incompetent managers who ran our last program into the ground.

Let’s talk to our fellow ramp employees, give them the real facts, continue to have them sign IAM union authorization cards and ultimately, receive benefits that other carriers with representation are reaping now.