IUE-CWA LOCAL717

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PAID

Permit No. 26

October • 2009

Halloween-Labor

Day Parade

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Parade begins at 1:30 p.m.

In downtown

Have Fun!

Join Local 717 in the Parade

To participate, contact Karen

@ the Union Hall (330)392-1591, ext. 225

Page 2 • Local 717

News of IUE-CWALocal 717

2950 SferraAve.

Office: (330) 392-1591

Fax: (330) 395-4875

www.iue-cwalocal717.com

Published by the IUE-CWALocal 717 in the interest

of its membership, to further the aims and

programs of Local 717 and to promote the policies

of the International

of ElectricalWorkers.

“Local 717 Union News” is printed with pride

by the members of the CommunicationsWorkers

ofAmerica, Printing, Publishing and MediaWorkers

Sector.

Karen Krolopp.........................................President

Debbie Ziots....................................Vice President

Tom Krolopp................................Shop Chairman

Gary Tillman............................Financial Secretary

Dave Hill..................................................Treasurer

Stacie Franks..........................Recording Secretary

Doug Murphy........................................Floor Guard

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Kim Alberini

Mary Davis

Pat Malone

Ed Ringer

Doug Tackett

Kevin Thomas

Art Tomlinson

MarlynWallace

DeniseWelch

TRUSTEES

Donny Frank

Dan Heath

Mike Yost

SKILLED TRADES CHAIRMAN

J.J. Scarmuzzi

BENEFITSADMINISTRATOR

Debbie Ziots

EDITORIALDEPARTMENT

Karen Krolopp..................................Editor-in-Chief

Our Editorial Policy

This paper is the voice of your Local and International

, It provides information and opinions relative to the

policy and programs of the International as well as the views

and actions of our Local’s leaders and committees.

Local 717 Union News welcomes articles from the members

of Local 717.All articles should be constructive and

contribute positively to the welfare of the entire membership.

The views and opinions expressed by the writers are their

own and do not reflect the opinions, views or policy of the

editorial Staff of IUE-CWALocal 717.

Local 717 Union News reserves the right to edit any material

submitted for publication and to reject any article

deemed not in the best interest of Local 717.

Some of the graphics in this paper and the advertisements

have been taken from The Gold Edition ofArt Explosion -

125,000 Images - Nova Development Corporation 1996 and

Key ClipMasterPro - SoftKey Software Products of

,

IncAllAdvertisements that appear in IUE-CWA Local 717

Union News do not signify endorsement of Local 717.

ForAdvertising Information Call:

Page One N.A.

(330) 568-1311

Membership Meeting

Sunday, October 11, 2009

7:00 P.M. at Local 717 Union Hall

Elm Road

Larchmont

N. Park

Extension

Mahoning

.

Plant 11

Plant 10

Seven Seventeen

Credit Union

Union Hall

Divieste

Deadline for articles for November publication is October 24, 2009.

Agenda Recommendations of the Executive Board

Financial Report

Committee Reports

Unfinished Business

New Business

Good andWelfare

Calendar of Events

October 11, 2009 Monthly Membership Meeting

7:00pm @ 717 Union Hall

October 21, 2009 Mahoning/Trumbull Labor CouncilMeeting

USWALocal 2155 •

October 28, 2009 Retirees Meeting @ 10:30am

717 Union Hall

Solidarity

Union Plus salutes America’s union workers.We honor our

rich legacy by providing a wide range of benefits and

services to help union members get more out of

life.To support union solidarity, we point you to

unionized companies and to quality products

made by union workers.We also help stretch

your paycheck with special discounts available

only to union members. So you can SUPPORT

your fellow union workers while you SAVE!

Web 07

Not all programs are available to Canadian members who may be eligible for the Canadian Union Advantage benefits. Visit www.unionsavings.ca

SAVE on Goodyear Tire

and Service. Claim a 5%

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tires as you support

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Service. Take an additional

10% off the regular monthly rate of any

individual or family calling plan. Receive

a $50 in-store credit when signing up

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proud to be union!

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Get up to 10% off quality, comfortable

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Check out the bargain prices and

great selections of new and used

books at the largest unionized

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SAVE with ConsumerReports.org Get an

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SAVE on a Hawaiian cruise with

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cruise through Hawaii’s main

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To learn more about Union Plus programs

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Respecting our proud tradition.

Rewarding union workers.

WARREN - Delphi Packard Electric retired union workers reacted with shock and anger Wednesday after learning a federal agency has taken over their pensions, raising the prospect of pension cuts.

The retirees also learned that former parent General Motors Corp. plans to end health care and life insurance coverage for all workers and retirees represented by the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America.

The union was continuing to negotiate with GM Wednesday in Detroit.

''I always bought GM. If they go through with this, I'll never buy GM again. My family won't buy GM, and I know a lot of people who said they won't buy GM again,'' said Mary Stiner, 60, a Warren resident who retired in 1997 after working 30-plus years.

''I don't know if I want to cry or scream,'' said Mary Lou Parisi, 60, a Niles resident who retired in 1999 after 32 years with the maker of vehicle electrical wiring harnesses.

The two women's pensions are safeguarded for now because they retired under GM, but they stand to lose their health care and life insurance.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. - the federal agency that insures private pension plans - said Wednesday that it will assume responsibility for the pension plans of nearly 70,000 Delphi Corp. active workers and workers who retired after GM spun off the auto parts maker in 1999.

The shift is designed to help Delphi emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, where it has languished since October 2005.

Not included in the pension shift to the PBGC are IUE members who transferred from Delphi to GM under the Special Employee Placement Opportunity, or SEPO, agreement in 2007 by the union, GM and Delphi that allowed certain Delphi workers to flow back to GM after the spinoff, said Karen Krolopp, president of IUE-CWA Local 717. More than 300 Delphi Packard workers went to GM facilities across the country, she said.

Krolopp used an example of workers who are too young to get Social Security or Medicare to illustrate the impact of the PBGC action. The retirees could be getting a $1,000 a month in pension and $1,000 a month in supplement, along with paid health care, she said.

''They're going to lose their health care and supplement, and their pension of $1,000 is going to be turned over to the PBGC. Based on PBGC guidelines, retirees could go down to $600 a month and have to buy their own health care,'' she said.

The IUE-CWA has about 40,000 Delphi retirees, with some 10,000 of them from Local 717, not including surviving spouses who are eligible for a part pension, Krolopp said.

The union also has about 670 members working at area factories, plus hundreds more at two plants in Mississippi that are part of the company's plan to exit bankruptcy.

Another 15,000 Delphi salaried retirees, plus active salaried workers, also are impacted. About 1,500 of the salaried retirees worked at Delphi Packard.

Bruce Gump, chairman of the Warren Legislative Group of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association, wrote in an e-mail that retirees are ''disappointed and disgusted'' by the pension transfer, which ''will mean the loss of 30 percent to 70 percent of the pension benefits earned by thousands of retirees over decades of service to the company.''

He called for elected officials to require President Obama to ''treat all worker groups equally'' and called for a boycott of ''everything GM.''

Krolopp, who choked up when she broke the news to retirees during their regular monthly meeting, echoed the salaried group's anger at the federal government.

''Our retirees worked hard every day. They paid into the system. The (government) has no problem with what GM and Delphi are about to do,'' she said.

Retirees younger than 62 stand to lose their company-paid monthly supplement that made up the difference in the pension to what they would get when they get Social Security, Krolopp said.

''That was negotiated so the company could get people to retire so they could bring in someone at lower wages,'' she said.

Thousands of Delphi Packard retirees are older than 65 and get federal Social Security and Medicare. However, Liz Knauf, president of the Local 717 retirees group, said she expects to lose her company-paid Medicare supplement of $72 a month.

Krolopp called the action by GM clearly a ''prejudiced action'' and said she's distraught that the U.S. Treasury department and Auto Task Force, which answers to President Obama, supports it.

Krolopp added she doesn't want the president to be able to use the retirees' plight to push national health care. Noting that United Auto Workers members at GM are keeping their health care and pensions, and that executives are still getting retirement pay, she said, ''I want the message to be that I want these people to be treated fairly.''

The PBGC said it is stepping in to protect the salaried and hourly pensions because Delphi, which has been operating under Chapter 11 for nearly four years, cannot afford to maintain them, and GM has said it will not assume them.

Troy, Mich.-based Delphi's hourly pension plan covers an estimated 47,000 people, including those from other unions. The PBGC said it expects to be responsible for about $4 billion of the plan's shortfall of nearly $4.4 billion.

The company's salaried pension plan covers an additional 20,000 workers and retirees. The PBGC expects to be responsible for about $2.2 billion of its estimated $2.6 billion in underfunding.

The agency also will be responsible for $50 million in underfunding of four smaller Delphi plans with 2,000 participants.

The PBGC will pay pension benefits up to the limits set by law. In 2009, the maximum benefit for a 65-year-old is $54,000 per year, but is lower for those who retire earlier or elect survivor benefits.

Delphi said Monday that it agreed to pay $3 billion to PBGC to settle the pension insurer's various claims against the company and its global affiliates. The PBGC also will receive additional funds from GM in exchange for liabilities associated with the company's various pension plans.

The settlement agreement has been filed in bankruptcy court for approval.

Delphi, GM's former parts division, was spun off from the Detroit-based automaker in 1999. In September 2008, GM took on about $2.5 billion in liabilities of Delphi's hourly pension plan. Until recently, it had been expected to assume the entire obligation for Delphi's hourly plan.

GM said Monday that it has met and continues to meet its obligations toward the Delphi pensions. The automaker noted that when it spun off Delphi, it did agree to top-up pension benefits for certain groups of hourly employees and retirees in the event that Delphi's hourly pension plan was terminated.

The automaker said it had reached a preliminary deal with the PBGC under which it would pay the insurer $70 million in cash, plus a portion of future payouts that GM will receive from the company that acquires Delphi assets.

lringler@tribtoday.com

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

THE TIME HAS COME TO FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE

Dear Retiree,

As you are aware, GM wants to severely reduce or, worse yet, eliminate our retiree’s healthcare benefits. GM believes only their UAW members can impact their recovery and have chosen not to acknowledge the contractual commitments they have made to IUE retirees.

The GM retirees represented by the IUE need to know they are clearly being discriminated against and must not tolerate being sacrificed for the sake of sheer corporate greed.

The message needs to be sent to those we elected and to whom our tax dollars pay their salary that this action is unacceptable and that we demand to be treated equal to our UAW brothers and sisters retired from GM.

Phone calls need to be made every day to those in office reminding them we put them in office, pay their salary and we expect them to support us in this time of crisis. Today, it’s our healthcare…tomorrow, it could be our pension!

DO NOT WAIT…CALL RIGHT NOW!

…tell them you and your family belong to communities, churches and civic groups and          everyone disagrees with what GM is attempting to do;

…tell them GM’s greed and unethical actions towards its retirees will impact its recovery     as you intend to take your message against GM beyond your family and friends;

…tell them corporate greed destroyed the company your hard work and loyalty made           strong;

…tell them you do not agree with the federal government giving your tax dollars to     GM at the expense of your family’s welfare;

…tell them your healthcare benefits keep you and your family alive and you can’t        believe             that today you find yourself literally fighting for your life;

…tell them you want them to share our concerns with President Obama, the Treasury           Department and GM.

Pass this message along to your family and friends and encourage them to call as well.

White House…1-202-456-1111

Governor Ted Strickland…1-614-466-3556

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray…1-614-466-4320

Senator George Voinovich…1-800-205-6446

Senator Sherrod Brown…1-888-896-6446

Senator Capri Cafaro…1-614-466-7182 / 330-372-2222

Congressman Steven LaTourette…1-800-447-0529

Congressman Tim Ryan…1-800-856-4152