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Highlights
for week ending September 29, 2001
- Call
to Action: Scalia Nomination. Excerpt: "For millions of working
men and women across this country, decisions made by the Department
of Labor have a critical impact on both their everyday lives and their
well-being. Therefore, when one of America's most vociferous, consistent
opponents of worker protections is slated for a top post at Labor, we
must act."
- St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press: More than 100,000 Current, Former
Workers Given Stake in IBM Pension Suit. Excerpt: "A federal court
judge in Illinois agreed this week to give as many as 140,000 current
and former employees of IBM Corp. a stake in a court challenge to the
computer maker's pension plan." If link is broken, view
Adobe Acrobat version [PDF--10 KB].
- Thompson Publishing Group: Court
Strikes Down Xerox's Cash Balance Lump Sum Calculations. Excerpt:
"The Xerox case is now the third in a line of cases in which cash
balance plan participants have challenged their plan's method for calculating
pre-retirement lump sum distributions. So far, cash balance plan sponsors
have been on the losing side in all three cases."
- St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press: Onan
settles retirement plan lawsuit. Excerpt: "Workers who sued
Fridley-based Onan Corp. over its conversion to a "cash balance"
pension plan have reached a settlement that will cost the company at
least $23 million, and will result in higher pension benefits for some
employees. Conversions to cash-balance pension plans, such as the one
at Onan and a highly publicized switch at IBM, have been controversial
in recent years, even sparking congressional hearings. Veteran workers
at Onan, IBM and elsewhere have claimed their pension benefits were
cut when their employers switched to cash-balance plans, which resemble
401(k) accounts more than traditional defined benefit retirement plans."
If link is broken, view Adobe Acrobat
version [PDF--62 KB].
- A number of rumors are flying around. Here are some of them:
- There have been reports that PCF values shown by the Money at Work
(IBM Intranet) site has decreased since last week. Details at this time
are sketchy:
- wylie_quixote: "There's irony in how IBM's harsh CB amendments
harm the participants in order to 'save'them from plan termination.
The brief history of CB amended pension plans show them experiencing
a 'living death'that visits greater harm on memership than outright
termination and replacement. ERISA protections kick in at terminations,
whereas CB amendments evade them. As it happens in nature, every parasitic
CB plan amendment attached itself to a healthy host DB plan. No CB plan
has ever been terminated." Read
more...
- "CPR
#1" speaks of an "Armonk Palace Revolt."
- har_philby
fills us in on the on-going U.K. Inland Revenue (equivalent to U.S.
IRS) investigation of IBM.
- Washington Post: Out
of the Easy Chair, Back to the Grind. Stock-Pumped Retirees Revising
Plans as Funds Evaporate.
- "chas06033"
comments on how IBM's relationship with its retirees have changed.
- "riptoff"
comments on CEO Lou Gerstner referring to us in his e-mails as "colleagues"
- Nostalgic for the old days? Feel like singing? Check
out the IBM Songbook!
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