Elana Levin

Letter to the Editor of the Week!

You know how enraged I get when companies break the social contract by breaking their promises to their employees.
Our letter writer of the week writes in response to an earlier letter to the editor that missed the mark on companies' obligations to their workers.

The Letter to the Editor of the Week award goes to Jan McCarthy of Great Falls Virginia, a Washington Post reader.
Jan McCarthy- I salute you.
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Regarding Edward Portner's Feb. 11 letter, which criticized defined-benefit pension plans:

As a 30-year employee of a company that is poised to dump its "bad idea" on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., robbing me of benefits I rightfully have anticipated, I object to Mr. Portner's apparent attitude that just because defined-benefit plans aren't the norm for most pensioners, they should be scrapped before fulfilling their obligations to aging employees.

Mr. Portner said that defined-benefit plans present "difficulties" for employers and that the PBGC is not equipped to handle employer insolvency. Neither issue should be my problem.

I have been promised my pension benefits for 30 years. But in today's business climate of broken promises to employees -- who are more productive than ever but are paid less, and whose jobs are being outsourced in the name of profit -- I should have known better.

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Posted at 6:07 PM, Feb 16, 2006 in Middle-class squeeze | Retirement Security | The Media | pensions
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