Pension Crisis: Experts and Victims Call for Reform at National Press Club Forum

A forum at the National Press Club, sponsored by the Claude Pepper Foundation and Center, brought together a panel of pension loss victims and policy experts to discuss the national crisis of disintegrating private pensions. The event was held on February 27, 2006, and featured a panel of victims from Enron, IBM, ATT, and Verizon, who shared their personal experiences of losing promised pensions and the devastating impact on their lives and families.

Key Takeaways:

The panel of pension loss victims included an Enron worker who had $1.3 million in savings in Enron stock but ended up with $8,000; an IBM employee who lost a cash balance pension valued at less than one year's salary; an ATT worker who received half the annual amount promised and lost promised health insurance; and a Verizon employee who lost $300,000.
The policy experts on the panel included William Arnone, Human Capital Practice partner for Ernst and Young; Shaun O'Brien, assistant director of the AFL-CIO Public Policy Department; Karen Friedman, policy director of the Pension Rights Center; Awad Morgan, financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial Services; and David Macpherson, director of the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy.
The panel proposed changes in company processes, judicial rulings, and federal legislation to guarantee that workers are protected from losing earned benefits.
The event was moderated by Bob Weiner, president of Robert Weiner Associates Public Affairs, and featured Thomas Spulak, chair of the Pepper Foundation, as the opening speaker.
The pension crisis affects nearly all American seniors and their families, as well as younger workers, with 101 million out of 142.6 million active American workers having a private pension plan.
Major companies such as United Airlines, GM, IBM, Verizon, Sears, Hewlett Packard, Polaroid, AT&T, and Enron have reduced or dismantled their guaranteed retirement plans, threatening the financial security of millions of workers.

Statistics:

101 million active American workers have a private pension plan out of 142.6 million (70.5% of active workers).
142.6 million: the number of active American workers.
$1.3 million: the amount of savings an Enron worker had in Enron stock.
$8,000: the amount the Enron worker ended up with after the company's downfall.
$300,000: the amount a Verizon employee lost in their pension.
12-13-2005: the date the Comtex SmarTrend(SM) Alert indicated a DOWNTREND on IBM stock.
$84.25: the price of IBM stock on 12-13-2005.

Sources:

U.S. Newswire via COMTEX, February 27, 2006.
Robert Weiner Associates, 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700.
http://www.usnewswire.com
http://www.comtex.com