Published: July 07, 2009 12:00 am      

DELPHI: Schumer calls for salaried retirees to be included in GM pension deal

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer says Delphi Corp. salaried retirees got a raw deal from General Motors, and he is calling for a reversal of a decision to exclude them from a GM pension deal.

In a letter to GM CEO Fritz Henderson on Monday, the New York Democrat urged GM to treat the salaried workers in the same way as Delphi hourly workers absorbed by GM, and fully fund their pensions. The GM decision affects 15,000 workers across the country, Schumer said in a news release Monday.

The senator decried GM’s decision to refer the pension plans of the Delphi salaried retirees to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Schumer noted that if the pensions are transferred to the PBGC, the benefits may be cut by up to 70 percent or even eliminated altogether.

Schumer noted that salaried retirees have already been subjected to cuts in their health and life insurance benefits, and that any further cuts would place too great a burden on retirees, many of whom started their careers at GM, and only became Delphi employees when the two companies split.

“The way Delphi’s salaried retirees are being treated is fundamentally unfair,” said Schumer. “Many of them have been longtime employees, and some even began their careers, decades ago, as GM employees,” he said. “They have sacrificed enough already, and to ask them to accept another burden is unfair and unreasonable. They deserve equitable treatment, and that’s why I am urging Mr. Henderson to reverse this decision and fully fund the salaried retirees pension benefits.”

General Motors has already agreed to assume the pensions of Delphi’s hourly workers, and Schumer said that the salaried workers deserve the same treatment.

Delphi was originally spun off from GM in 1999 and has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since October 2005. Delphi is GM’s largest supplier and sold the company $5.5 billion in parts and services in 2008, accounting for 31 percent of Delphi’s revenue. Since Delphi declared bankruptcy in 2005, GM has taken charges of almost $11 billion to pay for the restructuring efforts of Delphi’s North American operation.

In May, Schumer, in an effort to preserve New York jobs, called on GM to repurchase four Delphi plants, including those in Lockport and Rochester, a move that is currently on track.

Delphi’s Lockport plant has about 2,600 hourly and salaried employees.