Keep Pension Promises
Thursday, February 16, 2006; Page A26
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.
JAN McCARTHY
Great Falls