Wait a Minute: That's My Pension

We Call for a Moratorium on Pension Dumping

Promised pension benefits for more than 120,000 United Airlines employees will be cut by up to half if the company succeeds in unloading its pension plan on the federal government. And you can bet other employers that want to shirk their pension obligations will follow United’s lead.

But we can do something about it. More than 100 members of Congress—Democrats and Republicans—are co-sponsoring a bill that would place a six-month moratorium on companies in bankruptcy, including United, to keep them from dumping their pension plans on the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC). This bill, H.R. 2327, would give independent analysts time to sort out what’s really going on with United’s pension plans. It would give United employees the chance to negotiate over their retirement benefits. And meanwhile, Congress could get busy and pass pro-worker pension funding reform.

Please take a minute to send the following message to your members of Congress, urging them to support H.R. 2327 and protect our retirement security.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Support H.R. 2327. Protect Our Pensions.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I urge you to support H.R. 2327, which would place a six-month moratorium on companies in bankruptcy dumping their pension plans on the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC). H.R. 2327 would allow time for an independent analysis of United's pension plans. This kind of review is critical--in May, the PBGC said it would be in the best interest of both the PGBC and plan participants for at least one of United's plans to continue.

The moratorium also would give United employees the chance to negotiate over their retirement benefits--and give Congress the opportunity to take up greatly needed pro-worker pension funding reform. This issue and my retirement security are extremely important to me. I urge you to do what's best for working families.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
June 29, 2005


Background Information

We Call for a Moratorium on Pension Dumping

Promised pension benefits for more than 120,000 United Airlines employees will be cut by up to half if the company succeeds in unloading its pension plan on the federal government. And you can bet other employers that want to shirk their pension obligations will follow United’s lead.

But we can do something about it. More than 100 members of Congress—Democrats and Republicans—are co-sponsoring a bill that would place a six-month moratorium on companies in bankruptcy, including United, to keep them from dumping their pension plans on the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC). This bill, H.R. 2327, would give independent analysts time to sort out what’s really going on with United’s pension plans. It would give United employees the chance to negotiate over their retirement benefits. And meanwhile, Congress could get busy and pass pro-worker pension funding reform.