Washington, D.C. - In case you missed it, the Warren Tribune Chronicle highlighted the letter U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) sent to U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew urging the Obama Administration to meet with Delphi salaried retirees and to aggressively pursue efforts that would restore the retirees’ pensions and benefits.
The Tribune Chronicle article is included below. Full article can be found here.
Ohio senators urge administration to meet with Delphi salaried retirees
Tribune Chronicle
March 22, 2013
WARREN - U.S. Sens. from Ohio Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican, are urging President Barack Obama's administration to meet with Delphi salaried retirees to ''pursue efforts'' that would restore their pensions and benefits.
In a letter Wednesday to Jacob Lew, Brown and Portman ask the Treasury Secretary to review a proposal the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association made in July to restore their pension benefits and to look for other solutions to solve the issue.
''We remain extremely concerned about the impact this is having on families in our states, and we are exploring all options to find an equitable solution,'' the letter states.
Brown said everyone's input is necessary to ''advance solutions'' and he hopes Lew will give the association ''a seat at the table.''
During General Motors' bankruptcy in 2009, Delphi's defined benefit pension plan was terminated and Delphi workers lost an estimated 30 to 70 percent in benefits. The Auto Policy Task Force, however, decided to "top up" the pension benefits of union retirees, but not those of the 20,000 salaried retirees.
Delphi was a former subsidiary of the automaker.
''Our government should not pick winners and losers, and the administration should resolve this troubling issue,'' Portman said.