Pensions

I was watching World News Tonight, and 2 stories caught my attention. One was on pensions. Today, Verizon announced that it would halt the funding of the pension plans to 10000 managers worldwide to save 3 billion dollars over the next 10 years.

The story went on to tell us that this is becoming a trend among the United States workplace, with companies in financial danger seeking cost cutting programs. Instead, most companies employ a 401(k) program as a retirement. Many companies still match employees payments into 401(k) to a threshold (my company, for example, offers up to 3%).

Verizon, per ABC News, is different - they are financially stable. In fact, over the last year (?) they have made 4 billion dollars in profit. (I am unsure if it was the last year or the last 3 years - that is quite a bit of profit in such a short amount of time - it is possible that the news meant revenue).

Anyhow - it went on to interview workers that would be affected by these cuts in pension spending. They were, of course, outraged. They felt that Verizon shouldn't do such a thing, because "it isn't like they can't afford it." Or "this is just corporate america picking on the everyday worker."

And, of course, the media was siding with these workers. Which is where I get my gripe.

A pension plan is a form of benefit (such as insurance), which is part of the compensation package of an employee. Now I have no, repeat, NO problem with employees being upset that a prior agreed upon benefit and compensation has been taken away. The employer is going back on their agreement.

I DO, however, take major issue to the idea that they have been victimized. What a disgusting word, victimized. The root of the word, victim, has an even more putrid sound to it.

vic·tim (vktm) n.
...

3. One who is harmed by or made to suffer from an act, circumstance, agency, or condition: victims of war.
4. A person who suffers injury, loss, or death as a result of a voluntary undertaking: You are a victim of your own scheming.
5. A person who is tricked, swindled, or taken advantage of: the victim of a cruel hoax.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


Why would anyone want to be called this? Why does our culture love to make the 'working or poor' class out to be the victim of the big, bad industry and corporation? I have never, ever been a victim of ANYTHING in my life. God willing, I never will be.

No, faithful reader, these workers are not victims. We live in a relatively capitalist society. The concept that the media and these workers fail to realize is that the worker has fantastic power. Tremendous power. Power that can affect the corporation in such ways that the corporation has affected the worker.

QUIT IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH YOUR COMPENSATION, FIND ANOTHER JOB. If you feel you deserve a pension and that you require one to do your job, as compensation, then find a company willing to pay it. Don't whine and moan about how you've been taken advantage of. You haven't. Your company has made an economical decision that happens to affect your compensation. If you feel that compensation is not in line with your product (and you are, as an employee, selling a product), then sell it elsewhere.

The final part of the story which burned me so bad was 'expert testimony.' The interviewees were a woman from the Pension Protection Center and another woman from the Retirement Advocacy Committee.

Both, of course, explained to the US Workers that this was a dastardly way of corporate America to squash the little guy.

The final woman went so far as to say that it would make it harder for people to retire, since most people 'are bad about saving for such thing.'


........



HOW IS THAT THE CONCERN OF INDUSTRY? Seriously, folks. Why should these corporations concern themselves with people being 'bad about saving for such things?" It isn't the responsibility of 'Corporate America' to save for your future. It is your responsibility to save for your future.

In closing, I would like to point one thing out about the national economics and reasoning behind these stories (which we are seeing more and more). The most populace generation currently living in America, the Baby Boomers, are around a decade from retirement. The strain on the economy, but, more importantly, their pocket books is going to be enormous. Seems to me that they have a vested interest in such things.

If America makes it through the end of the days of the Baby Boomers, we might just be OK.