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Highlights
for week ending July 1, 2000
- Another
IBM VP leaves, Alexandre Attal, former vice president, IBM Global
Services- Americas
- Testimonial letter
from Janet Krueger to U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley's Special Committee
on Aging hybrid plan hearing held on June 5, 2000. Excellent letter,
clearly spells out what IBM did to its long-term employees, and why.
It's long, but worth reading.
- IBM's pension surplus increased dramatically from $5,032 Million in
1998 to $11,150 Million in 1999. This doubling of asset value didn't
occur by accident, or by wise investments on the part of IBM investment
advisors. How did it happen? It happened because 30% to 50% of pension
assets were stolen from IBM employees, and because IBM has been laying
off long-term employees who lose substantial benefits when they leave
the company before retirement. Read about it here,
here,
here,
and here
See Note
W in 1999 IBM Annual Report that shows changes in the benefit obligations
and plan assets for the IBM Retirement Plans.
- Meanwhile, back at Boeing...a union vote. Read
about Boeing's anti-union drive. Late breaking news: Union
vote wins at Boeing! Comment
from an IBMer on the Boeing anti-union campaign.
- "Poughkeepsie (SG) server group announced layoffs last year the
took place in Feb. 2000. A month or so later email went out to Fishkill
and Poughkeepsie NY giving $500 to anyone who could find someone to
work manf. jobs, that got hired and stayed more than 6 months. The alliance
survey showed 80% terminated were over 40 yrs old." Interestingingly
enough, IBM can do this without being accused of age discriminitation?
It may be unethical, but it's not illegal. Read
why here.
- Alliance@IBM Web site
wins www.labour.org's Website
of the Week award. Excerpt: "I love this site! OK, it has everything
you'd want in a website (which 90% of trade union websites usually lack)
such as a mailing list, regular news updates, a calendar (which is VERY
current), etc. And they're trying hard to organize workers in the computer
industry, which already makes this an interesting website. (If we don't
organize the New Economy, the union movement dies.)"
- IBM
United Kingdom moves surplus from Defined Benefit pension to Defined
Contribution pension.
- Remember IBM's "Total Compensation"? Read
about how your's has been cut. Another
comment about how "total compensation" has been reduced.
"And as IBM'ers continue to lose, other company's employees continue
to win gains in wages and benefits and job security. At
GE, for example..."
- An editorial
in Metro Lutheran: "Conversions of traditional pension benefit
plans to cash balance pensions (CBP) in the recent past have resulted
in the slashing of expected pension benefits for many tens of thousands
of mid-career and late career employees, as well as recent retirees,
by 20-66%..."
- Even if you are lucky enough to be a "first-" or "second-choicer",
you should be aware that IBM significantly cut your pension back in
1995, and most of us never noticed. Read
about it here...
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