Former Delphi workers, who had their pensions slashed in the Obama-Biden administration’s auto bailout, are thanking President Trump for his order that seeks a solution in restoring the lost pensions.
In 2009, as part of the Obama-Biden administration’s taxpayer-funded bailout of General Motors (GM), the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) terminated the pension plans of about 20,0000 non-unionized Delphi workers. In some cases, workers had their pensions gutted by as much as 75 percent.
A federal report in 2013 detailed that the Delphi workers would likely have their pensions cut by an estimated $440 million. Meanwhile, GM topped off unionized Delphi workers’ pensions at a cost of about $1 billion.
This week, Trump signed a memorandum that orders federal agencies to devise a plan on how to restore the Delphi workers’ slashed pensions over the next 90 days. Den Black with the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association (DSRA), which has been fighting for their pensions since the auto bailout, praised the decision.
“This is the best news since this nightmare began 11 years ago,” Black wrote in a statement:
The DSRA Board of Directors and members sincerely appreciate and are grateful to President Trump for his intervention to achieve closure of this ordeal. We are very thankful to Congressman [Mike] Turner for his ongoing leadership and initiative as well as to congressional representatives from both parties who in the past month signed a letter urging the President to intervene.
“This President is showing concern for all American workers,” Black said. “DSRA members never gave up. We appreciate his attention and help.”
Bruce Gump, the vice chairman of the DSRA, said Delphi retirees are offering their “encouragement and prayers for all involved to expedite a successful conclusion.”
“We played by the rules. The involuntary termination of our pensions was wrong,” Gump said. “It did not have to happen. This means so much to the future of these retirees, their families and communities in many states.”
In 2012, federal documents unveiled how the Obama-Biden administration’s Treasury Department worked to gut the pensions of the Delphi workers. In other emails, PBGC officials indicated they had the green light from the Obama-Biden administration to slash the pensions.
Those involved with the pension-slashing scheme, such as Tim Geithner, Steven Rattner, and Ron Bloom, are currently pouring thousands of dollars into Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign.
Delphi, which has since split into Aptiv and Delphi Technologies, announced in 2006 that it would shutter 21 of its 29 plants in the United States — offshoring some 20,000 U.S. jobs to Mexico, China, and other foreign countries.
At the time, Delphi employed nearly 50,000 Americans, who earned about $30 an hour on the assembly line. Now, workers in Mexico for the company earn about $1 an hour.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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