Reps go to bat for Delphi retirees


By Grace wyler

gwyler@vindy.com

Delphi Corp. salaried retirees have gained political momentum in their fight to recover the pension and health-care benefits awarded to hourly retirees.

Republican representatives from two congressional committees have demanded the Treasury Department and General Motors release all documents regarding the restructuring of the Delphi pension packages.

Republican members of the Committee on Education and Labor sent a letter this week asking committee chairman George Miller, D-Calif., to subpoena all documents “related to the disparate treatment of Delphi workers’ pension benefits.”

The letter asks for the subpoena of all communications between the Auto Task Force, the Treasury, the White House, GM, Delphi Corp., the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and United Auto Workers.

The documents may help the committee determine how key decisions were made regarding the Delphi pension plans.

Delphi retirees saw their pensions cut by 30 percent to 70 percent when their plans were turned over to the PBGC last year. GM agreed to restore pension benefits for hourly workers but not salaried workers.

The Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions requested the documents from the Treasury Department in December but was unsuccessful.

Bruce Gump, a member of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association, said he hopes the new efforts will force the administration to be more forthcoming about the role it played in the Delphi pension restructuring.

“The issue here is that the Obama administration — which promised to be the most transparent administration — has refused to give up the documents,” Gump said. “We want those documents because they show that the government purposely discriminated against certain groups in favor of more politically colorful, influential groups.”

Republican members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform also sent a letter to GM’s chief executive, Ed Whitacre, on Wednesday, requesting all communications between the company and the federal government regarding retirement benefits for GM and Delphi Corp.

Sherrie Childers Arb, a spokeswoman for GM, declined to comment on the request.

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