Welcome to IBM Employee News and Links

Our Friends:

Alliance@IBM Rocky Mountain Action Coalition U.K IBM Members

Quick Links:

Get involved! Insider trading After IBM Lenovo Employee Discount

Previous highlights:

February 18, 2012 February 11, 2012 February 4, 2012 January 28, 2012 January 21, 2012 January 14, 2012 January 7, 2012 December 31, 2011 December 24, 2011 December 17, 2011 December 10, 2011 December 3, 2011 November 26, 2011 November 19, 2011 November 12, 2011 November 5, 2011 October 29, 2011 October 22, 2011 October 15, 2011 October 8, 2011 October 1, 2011 September 24, 2011 September 17, 2011 September 10, 2011 September 3, 2011 August 27, 2011 August 20, 2011 August 13, 2011 August 6, 2011 July 30, 2011 July 23, 2011 July 16, 2011 July 9, 2011 July 2, 2011 June 25, 2011 June 18, 2011 June 11, 2011 June 4, 2011 May 28, 2011 May 21, 2011 May 14, 2011 May 7, 2011 April 30, 2011 April 23, 2011 April 16, 2011 April 9, 2011 April 2, 2011 March 26, 2011 March 19, 2011 March 12, 2011 March 5, 2011 February 26, 2011 February 19, 2011 February 12, 2011 February 5, 2011 January 29, 2011 January 22, 2011 January 15, 2011 January 8, 2011 January 1, 2011 December 25, 2010 December 18, 2010 December 11, 2010 December 4, 2010 November 27, 2010 November 20, 2010 November 13, 2010 November 6, 2010 October 30, 2010 October 23, 2010 October 16, 2010 October 9, 2010 October 2, 2010 September 25, 2010 September 18, 2010 September 11, 2010 September 4, 2010 August 28, 2010 August 21, 2010 August 14, 2010 August 7, 2010 July 31, 2010 July 24, 2010 July 17, 2010 July 10, 2010 July 3, 2010 June 26, 2010 June 19, 2010 June 12, 2010 June 5, 2010 May 29, 2010 May 22, 2010 May 15, 2010 May 8, 2010 May 1, 2010 April 24, 2010 April 17, 2010 April 10, 2010 April 3, 2010 March 27, 2010 March 20, 2010 March 13, 2010 March 6, 2010 February 27, 2010 February 20, 2010 February 13, 2010 February 6, 2010 January 30, 2010 January 23, 2010 January 16, 2010 January 9, 2010 January 2, 2010 December 26, 2009 December 19, 2009 December 12, 2009 December 5, 2009 November 28, 2009 November 21, 2009 November 14, 2009 November 7, 2009 October 31, 2009 October 24, 2009 October 17, 2009 October 10, 2009 October 3, 2009 September 26, 2009 September 19, 2009 September 12, 2009 September 5, 2009 August 29, 2009 August 22, 2009 August 15, 2009 August 8, 2009 August 1, 2009 July 25, 2009 July 18, 2009 July 11, 2009 July 4, 2009 June 27, 2009 June 20, 2009 June 13, 2009 June 6, 2009 May 30, 2009 May 23, 2009 May 16, 2009 May 9, 2009 May 2, 2009 April 25, 2009 April 18, 2009 April 11, 2009 April 4, 2009 March 28, 2009 March 21, 2009 March 14, 2009 March 7, 2009 February 28, 2009 February 21, 2009 February 14, 2009 February 7, 2009 January 31, 2009 January 24, 2009 January 17, 2009 January 10, 2009 January 03, 2009 December 27, 2008 December 20, 2008 December 13, 2008 December 6, 2008 November 29, 2008 November 22, 2008 November 15, 2008 November 8, 2008 November 1, 2008 October 25, 2008 October 18, 2008 October 11, 2008 October 4, 2008 September 27, 2008 September 20, 2008 September 13, 2008 September 6, 2008 August 30, 2008 August 23, 2008 August 16, 2008 August 9, 2008 August 2, 2008 July 26, 2008 July 19, 2008 July 12, 2008 July 5, 2008 June 28, 2008 June 21, 2008 June 14, 2008 June 7, 2008 May 31, 2008 May 24, 2008 May 17, 2008 May 10, 2008 2008 Stock Meeting April 26, 2008 April 19, 2008 April 12, 2008 April 5, 2008 March 29, 2008 March 22, 2008 March 15, 2008 March 8, 2008 March 1, 2008 February 16, 2008 February 9, 2008 February 2, 2008 January 26, 2008 January 19, 2008 January 12, 2008 January 5, 2008 December 29, 2007 December 22, 2007 December 15, 2007 December 8, 2007 December 1, 2007 November 24, 2007 November 17, 2007 November 10, 2007 November 3, 2007 October 27, 2007 October 20, 2007 October 13, 2007 October 6, 2007 September 29, 2007 September 22, 2007 September 15, 2007 September 8, 2007 September 1, 2007 August 25, 2007 August 18, 2007 August 11, 2007 August 4, 2007 July 28, 2007 July 21, 2007 July 14, 2007 July 7, 2007 June 30, 2007 June 23, 2007 June 16, 2007 June 9, 2007 June 2, 2007 May 26, 2007 May 19, 2007 May 12, 2007 May 5, 2007 2007 Stock Meeting April 21, 2007 April 14, 2007 April 7, 2007 March 31, 2007 March 24, 2007 March 17, 2007 March 10, 2007 March 3, 2007 February 24, 2007 February 17, 2007 February 10, 2007 February 3, 2007 January 27, 2007 January 20, 2007 January 13, 2007 January 6, 2007 December 30, 2006 December 23, 2006 December 16, 2006 December 9, 2006 December 2, 2006 November 25, 2006 November 18, 2006 November 11, 2006 November 4, 2006 October 28, 2006 October 21, 2006 October 14, 2006 October 7, 2006 September 30, 2006 September 23, 2006 September 16, 2006 September 9, 2006 September 2, 2006 August 26, 2006 August 19, 2006 August 12, 2006 August 5, 2006 July 29, 2006 July 22, 2006 July 15, 2006 July 8, 2006 July 1, 2006 June 24, 2006 June 17, 2006 June 10, 2006 June 3, 2006 May 27, 2006 May 20, 2006 May 13, 2006 May 6, 2006 2006 Stock Meeting April 22, 2006 April 15, 2006 April 8, 2006 April 1, 2006 March 25, 2006 March 18, 2006 March 11, 2006 March 4, 2006 February 25, 2006 February 18, 2006 February 11, 2006 February 4, 2006 January 28, 2006 January 21, 2006 January 14, 2006 January 7, 2006 December 31, 2005 December 24, 2005 December 17, 2005 December 10, 2005 December 03, 2005 November 26, 2005 November 19, 2005 November 12, 2005 November 5, 2005 October 29, 2005 October 22, 2005 October 15, 2005 October 8, 2005 October 1, 2005 September 24, 2005 September 17, 2005 September 10, 2005 September 3, 2005 August 27, 2005 August 20, 2005 August 13, 2005 August 6, 2005 July 30, 2005 July 23, 2005 July 16, 2005 July 9, 2005 July 2, 2005 June 25, 2005 June 18, 2005 June 11, 2005 June 4, 2005 May 28, 2005 May 21, 2005 May 14, 2005 May 7, 2005 April 30, 2005 April 23, 2005 April 16, 2005 April 9, 2005 April 2, 2005 March 26, 2005 March 19, 2005 March 12, 2005 March 5, 2005 February 26, 2005 February 19, 2005 February 12, 2005 February 5, 2005 January 29, 2005 January 22, 2005 January 15, 2005 January 8, 2005 January 1, 2005 December 25, 2004 December 18, 2004 December 11, 2004 December 4, 2004 November 27, 2004 November 20, 2004 November 13, 2004 November 6, 2004 October 30, 2004 October 23, 2004 October 16, 2004 October 9, 2004 October 2, 2004 September 25, 2004 September 18, 2004 September 11, 2004 September 4, 2004 August 28, 2004 August 21, 2004 August 14, 2004 August 7, 2004 July 31, 2004 July 24, 2004 July 17, 2004 July 10, 2004 July 3, 2004 June 26, 2004 June 19, 2004 June 5, 2004 May 29, 2004 May 22, 2004 May 15, 2004 May 8, 2004 2004 Stock Meeting April 24, 2004 April 10, 2004 April 3, 2004 March 27, 2004 March 20, 2004 March 13, 2004 March 6, 2004 February 28, 2004 February 21, 2004 February 14, 2004 February 7, 2004 February 1, 2004 January 18, 2004 December 27, 2003 December 20, 2003 December 13, 2003 December 6, 2003 November 29, 2003 November 22, 2003 November 15, 2003 November 8, 2003 November 1, 2003 October 25, 2003 October 18, 2003 October 11, 2003 October 4, 2003 September 27, 2003 September 20, 2003 September 13, 2003 September 6, 2003 August 30, 2003 August 23, 2003 August 16, 2003 August 9, 2003 Pension Lawsuit Win July 26, 2003 July 19, 2003 July 12, 2003 July 5, 2003 June 28, 2003 June 21, 2003 June 14, 2003 June 7, 2003 May 31, 2003 May 24, 2003 May 17, 2003 May 10, 2003 2003 Stock Meeting April 26, 2003 April 19, 2003 April 12, 2003 April 5, 2003 March 29, 2003 March 22, 2003 March 15, 2003 March 8, 2003 March 1, 2003 February 22, 2003 February 15, 2003 February 8, 2003 February 1, 2003 January 25, 2003 January 18, 2003 January 11, 2003 January 4, 2003 December 28, 2002 December 21, 2002 December 14, 2002 December 7, 2002 November 30, 2002 November 23, 2002 November 16, 2002 November 9, 2002 November 2, 2002 October 26, 2002 October 19, 2002 October 12, 2002 October 5, 2002 September 28, 2002 September 21, 2002 September 14, 2002 September 7, 2002 August 31, 2002 August 24, 2002 August 17, 2002 August 10, 2002 August 3, 2002 July 27, 2002 July 20, 2002 July 13, 2002 July 6, 2002 June 29, 2002 June 22, 2002 June 15, 2002 June 8, 2002 June 1, 2002 May 25, 2002 May 18, 2002 May 11, 2002 2002 Stock Meeting April 27, 2002 April 20, 2002 April 13, 2002 April 6, 2002 March 30, 2002 March 23, 2002 March 16, 2002 March 9, 2002 March 2, 2002 February 23, 2002 February 16, 2002 February 9, 2002 February 2, 2002 January 26, 2002 January 19, 2002 January 12, 2002 January 5, 2002 December 29, 2001 December 22, 2001 December 15, 2001 December 8, 2001 December 1, 2001 November 24, 2001 November 17, 2001 November 10, 2001 November 3, 2001 October 27, 2001 October 20, 2001 October 13, 2001 October 6, 2001 September 29, 2001 September 22, 2001 September 15, 2001 September 8, 2001 September 1, 2001 August 25, 2001 August 18, 2001 August 11, 2001 August 4, 2001 July 28, 2001 July 21, 2001 July 14, 2001 July 7, 2001 June 30, 2001 June 23, 2001 June 16, 2001 June 9, 2001 June 2, 2001 May 26, 2001 May 19, 2001 May 12, 2001 May 5, 2001 2001 Stock Meeting April 21, 2001 April 14, 2001 April 7, 2001 March 31, 2001 March 24, 2001 March 17, 2001 March 10, 2001 March 3, 2001 February 24, 2001 February 17, 2001 February 10, 2001 February 3, 2001 January 27, 2001 January 20, 2001 January 13, 2001 January 6, 2001 December 30, 2000 December 23, 2000 December 16, 2000 December 9, 2000 December 2, 2000 November 24, 2000 November 17, 2000 November 10, 2000 November 4, 2000 October 28, 2000 October 21, 2000 October 14, 2000 October 7, 2000 September 30, 2000 September 23, 2000 September 16, 2000 September 9, 2000 September 2, 2000 August 26, 2000 August 19, 2000 August 12, 2000 July 29, 2000 July 22, 2000 July 15, 2000 July 1, 2000 June 24, 2000 June 17, 2000 June 10, 2000 June 3, 2000 May 27, 2000 May 20, 2000 May 13, 2000 May 6, 2000 April, 2000

Highlights—May 21, 2011

• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Fortune Magazine deletes comments on Sam's and Ginny's Articles" by "thirtyyearibmer". Full excerpt: Fortune magazine has deleted all comments on Sam Palmisano's article. It was an amazing read while it lasted. At last count over 200 negative comments (and they were growing daily) from sources all over the world - Brazil, Italy, Germany, UK and more. We all know where Fortune's fortune resides - not in the employee's of large corporations, but in a corporation's advertising budget. So now at least we know the words "free press" should not apply to Fortune - it is "expensive press" to be sold to the highest bidder.

  Editor's note: Some of the (now deleted from the Fortune site) comments are available in the March 12, 2011 version of these highlights. Following are some comments that have been posted since Fortune purged the original comments:

  • Schlubb Didubb, 05/09/2011 04:07 PM Where have the old comments gone? Were they deleted because they were - rightly - critical of IBM and Palmisano?
  • Salagatle, 05/10/2011 04:41 AM So, we can assume that the management of CNN Money have been forced into deleting all of the comments that were posted here. We can therefore further assume that any articles posted here will not be to the benefit of, or in the interest of their readers/investors, as the "Truth" can be deleted... Now we know - we will watch. As for the real story, those of us who know, know, and will post our opinions on websites that honor our right to comment!
  • TruthWatson, 05/10/2011 10:29 AM SHAME on the editors for deleting the HUNDREDS of truthful comments from IBM employees and ex-IBM employees from around the world who offered a peak behind the veil of Sam's IBM.

    Let me summarize what I read here last week. Yes. Sam's done a great job increasing shareholder value, but as the (now deleted) comments in this forum suggested, while Sam has been compensated $40 million over the past two years, IBM employees have been told there is no budget for raises. While shareholders are awarded record dividends, IBM tells their developers there is no budget to replace 4-year-old computers.

    IBM used to be a great company to work for and was a good investment for the past few years, but how much longer can Sam squeeze and neglect his employees for the benefit of shareholders?

  • IusTertii, 05/10/2011 11:38 PM Other deleted comments showed that IBM's profits/earnings per share etc under Sam have been climbing for years, while revenue has been essentially flat. The only way to do this is to be constantly cutting costs, which is not a long term sustainable business model. The constant trimming of staff benefits is sapping morale as well.
  • jackx1955, 05/12/2011 10:20 AM Shame on you CNN Money, shame on IBM and Sam Palmisano. It is ridiculous to delete all 200+ previous comments. We call it censorship which is a strong indicator for dependent Press of totalitarian systems. It couldn't been worse in China. How much did Sam pay you? It would have been wise to spend the money for his employees instead of paying you. He could also have learned from all these very sound comments. This could have had a positive influence on future comments. But he failed - again
  • Singerw1, 05/15/2011 09:08 AM To the editor(s): please let us (truthfully) know why the old 200+ comments have been deleted. Thank you in advance for your openness.
• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Raises?" by "trexibmer". Excerpts: Anyone hear yet what their IBM raise might be? Remember, even though IBM had record profits, and IBM's EPS targets are getting higher and higher, most of you will get little or no raises. And you IBM retirees can't add to the profits anymore, and are an expense and burden to IBM, so you can forget getting any COLA.

  Understand IBM has to do this to supposedly stay competitive in a tough global marketplace since the EPS is not as high as IBM wants it. It makes more bonus money and better stock option exercise money for the IBM executives the only employees in IBM that are not referred to as resources. And, you as a resource, or FTE work widget, should feel good about this: Sam THANKS YOU you for your hard work and understanding on this. This thank you should be enough compensation for not getting a raise.

• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "What was your greatest surprise?" by "fadedblue89". Full excerpt: I'm very close to pulling the trigger on retirement. I've done tons of reading and research, met with the financial planner many times, and at this point believe I have a good grasp of how things are supposed to unfold. So I have a plan, and we all know plans are just that -plans- and many times the reality is much different.

  What were your surprises on your way out the door? What new things became clear 30 days or so out? I'm looking for information that you've all discovered the hard way. Thanks!

• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by Gary Brown. Full excerpt: My surprises: Unable to easily find a financial planner that was not on commission for a firm. Drugs from outside USA can save lots of money. Found easy ways to make money from hobbies (i.e., removing viruses and tuning computers). Annuities are commission-loaded and foolish. AARP makes a lot of money selling insurance. Never really retired in 2000; I went to a small 12-employee company and am still using customer service skills started in in 1966. Met many grumpy IBM retirees that had no outside hobbies or hardly exercised, Gary, 65
• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by Sheila Beaudry. Full excerpt: The major factor for us was not understanding or being forewarned by anyone that when you retire they put you into a different medical retiree insurance pool which costs a lot more than the active employee pool. The costs also rapidly increased due to the cap they put on it. First it was $300/month for the two of us and 7 years later it is $1300/month. Of course this only applies to those fortunate to get any retiree medical. We will probably being paying $15,000/year before we can get Medicare.
• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by "mjdeb2". Full excerpt: The increased cost of medical coverage as a retiree.
• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by "netmouser". Full excerpt: My greatest surprise really was how little money you need to live on. If you have no debt, no mortgage and have an empty nest. Add up what you have to pay for (property tax, medical insurance premium, heating oil, whatever). Then determine your "nice to have" costs that you can be flexible about. If your budget has money left over you can plan the big cost extras like a vacation trip.

  I also spent the first months of "retirement" reducing costs by things like getting new quotes for house/car insurance and getting them from the same insurer - and taking AARP's safe driving course to add to the discounts. The best choice for me was AAA Mid-Atlantic, that throws in a loyalty discount for being an AAA member. They have a great rating with the state. I also dropped my land line phone and now have a "free" phone by signing up for the cable company triple-play discount - this promo was extended thanks to serious competition in my area (NY Metro region).

• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by "DC". Full excerpt: The only surprise has been the steadily increasing retiree contribution to medical insurance (for not yet medicare eligible) --- currently $1600/mo for self and spouse.
• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by "thirtyyearibmer". Full excerpt: Fadedblue89, I don't think I had any great surprises heading out the door. My situation is a second choicer with FHA which can make a difference if you are looking for "surprises" as I find a lot of folks seem real confused about FHA and if they even have an account or how to use it. This group kept me well informed on what I could/couldn't do with that.

  For FHA the minimum surprise was how much cheaper Cobra (100+ percent of current plan) was than paying for IBM's retiree health coverage through FHA. Final decision was to go on my wife's plan for the time being and probably then Cobra there when she retires and after that move back to FHA funded IBM health benefits. The risk is that IBM could dump FHA and leave me high and dry with worthless FHA dollars - my gamble that I will shake my head over if it happens, but that is our route to make it to Medicare qualification as least expensively as we can.

  One thing I did learn is that a Medicare decisions is a critical decision when that comes up between the two plans. I will be sure and get further information when that date arrives. It appears that I could move from my wife's plan back to FHA medicare, but not the reverse. So that decision will be a critical one that I haven't dug into yet but will dig deeper when that date arrives. So that could be a nasty surprise if not considered. As always leave some money in the FHA - don't run it dry as that is a criteria for getting back on (anyone out there that sees any errors in this, let me know.)

  Also, have them run an estimate of what your "net check" will be after taxes and everything you are considering. Do not look at the gross - don't be surprised on trying to survive on a 70 to 80% reduction in your income if you are in the category to get a pension check (which I will always say, I was one of the fortunate ones to be a second choicer).

  And remember the wise adage if you have a spouse, "You married for better or worse, but not for lunch." My wife is still working until we can see if we are compatible sharing lunch together! :)

  PS - figure out if your manager will support a retirement party and how much and throw one. A lot of folks are doing that. I managed to get away with 70+ folks because of good management - others I know of retired and never had a party. If you feel guilty about have a party like I did when so many of your friends will never qualify for retirement, make it about them not you. Get up and talk about those folks that supported you and made it possible for you to get where you are. They will be sad for what they lost, but supportive of a friend thanking them.

  PS - PS - I don't know your temperament, but I am a workaholic. I am working more now daily than pre-retirement but enjoying it more. That is not a surprise but an enjoyable realization. If my books don't sell, I will be back in another selling career of some type; only I will sell something I can believe in. What is life without a few gambles. Cheers and good luck. Pete.

• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by "Portsmith". Full excerpt: I retired last September after 42 years, on the old pension plan. Both my wife and I were Medicare eligible at the time. There have been a few surprises.
  • It is easy to find out what Medicare coverage will cost. However, prior to actually starting the ball rolling with benefits, it was impossible to find out any meaningful data about IBM retiree medical benefit options and costs. For a Medicare eligible couple, they turn out to be manageable, with reasonable choices. For those not Medicare eligible -- well, as many of the responses to your question suggest, not being able to get answers can be problematic to say the least.
  • I was pleased to have a "Retirement Adviser" assigned to me - a single person I could call with questions and problems as I went through the process. I had heard horror stories from other folks who'd retired about always getting a different person with a different answer. For me, this worked out well.
  • Despite being very, VERY careful to make sure everyone understood that Medicare was primary and IBM coverage secondary, I discovered two months later when my wife got sick that it was bollixed up. It took another two months to get it fixed, and a few more to get everyone properly paid. Keep an eye on how they set this up.
  • My work prior to retirement was intensely technical, sometimes demanding, often urgent, and I loved it. I was afraid I would miss that. It took about 24 hours for me to get over that!! I've kept myself busy with some small construction projects at home, and with managing, upgrading and generally maintaining the computers for a local non-profit I'm affiliated with. I haven't felt bored!
  • When "they" tell you that you should have two months $$$ in hand when retirements starts, they mean it!! You will eventually get whatever you are entitled to, but it will take that long for all the paperwork to get done and the checks to get scheduled. IBM absolutely will NOT do any of that stuff until you've actually signed the paperwork on the last day.

  I hope things go well for you!

• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by "orsonbear". Full excerpt: I retired in 2007 after 39 years. First-choicer, IBM medical plan, not eligible for Medicare. No surprises. And did I miss IBM? No, never looked back. The retirement process went smoothly and the transition to receiving a check from Fidelity vs IBM and being on a different medical plan was uneventful. I chose the IBM High Deductible PPO, which costs $418 a month for my spouse and I (my coverage is actually free, the cost is all for my spouse). That amount also includes the Eye Care Plan which I chose to take; I didn't buy the dental plan. The medical premium has gone up a small amount each year since I retired, but it is manageable.

  I do not have a mortgage payment, car payments, or a credit card balance. The only way to go, even if you are not retired. I do not collect Social Security (waiting for 66) nor have I tapped my 401K. My spouse works, but it is a relatively low-paying job. Without that, and without SS or 401K usage, things would be uncomfortably tight. Still take nice vacations each year and enjoy life (actually, enjoy it a lot more without any IBM responsibilities).

  Personal opinion: there are numerous posts where people worry if they will get their first retirement check promptly on the first of the month after they retire. I filed my paperwork two or three months in advance, and my check was still a month late. No big deal. If your cash flow is managed so closely that you can't do without being paid for a month, are you really ready to retire?

• Yahoo! IBM Pension and Retirement Issues message board: "Re: What was your greatest surprise?" by "mr_quarkwrench". Full excerpt: My greatest surprise was discovering that even though I'm on the old pension plan and medical plan (UHC) was if you actually get sick you'll need a large amount of additional money to stay alive. UHC says my max out of pocket is $3500 but I've spent well over $10,000/year since I was first diagnosed in 2004. I didn't go on medicare until 2008 and it is still in that range. -- Don
• Yahoo! IBM Retiree Information Exchange message board: "Canada drug stores" by "oldgolfballs". Full excerpt: I didn't think I would ever have to consider Canada drugs but my wife has entered the nasty world of the donut hole! So am wondering what sites any one has had experience ordering, I priced drugs at 2 so far, canadadrug.com and bluesky, it seems that for her scripts that blusky has the better prices. Any comments would be appreciated. Andy.
• Yahoo! IBM Retiree Information Exchange message board: "Re: Canada drug stores" by "ibmshaftee". Full excerpt: I used Canadadrugs.com for my wife for two years until she got on medicare. They were prompt and very reasonable compared to US drug stores. Never had a problem with them. They would always call when her order was due. When they called after medicare started I told them what happened and have not had a call since.
• Yahoo! IBM Retiree Information Exchange message board: "Re: Canada drug stores" by Gene Ehrich. Full excerpt: We use http://www.springhilldrugs.com/
• Yahoo! IBM Retiree Information Exchange message board: "Re: Canada drug stores" by "madinpok". Full excerpt: This web site can be useful for checking out online pharmacies and comparing prices. They verify the pharmacies they list to a certain degree to try to ensure that they are reputable. http://pharmacychecker.com/
• Yahoo! IBM Retiree Information Exchange message board: "Re: Canada drug stores" by "torbilll". Full excerpt: I have used bluesky for a couple of years now. No problems at all. They are very reputable. Bill.
• Glassdoor IBM reviews. Selected reviews follow:
  • IBM Anonymous in Columbus, OH: (Current Employee) "Not very employee friendly." Pros: IBM's brand name in the market and the innovation that happens in the research labs of IBM is one of the biggest reasons to work with IBM. Cons: IBM Is very shareholder focussed and not so much employee focussed. Cost cutting seems to be a constant focus, even in record years, employee's don't get record bonuses.
  • IBM Business Analyst in San Francisco, CA: (Current Employee) "IBM is a great company to work for and has awesome benefits." Pros: This really is a great job! I love the work that I do and the people that I work with. Like all jobs, work is work, but this is by for the best place that I have ever worked at. Cons: I don't really believe there are any significant cons worth mentioning, at least none that are company wide. Every now and then you run into a person that is difficult to work with, but you just stick it out and move on to the next project. Advice to Senior Management: Just keep doing what your doing, also I love the IBM commercials. I am definitely and IBM'er through and through!
  • IBM Member of Technical Staff: (Past Employee - 2011) "India Bangalore Machines." Pros: Work and life balance/ Telecommute. Cons: Everything else. Mgmt is incompetent and completely unaware of how much effort it takes to deliver. Advice to Senior Management: Retire already and let the people with real knowledge and real ideas move up and lead IBM before it goes off the cliff
  • IBM Tax Analyst: (Current Employee) "If you live in the US, stay away." Pros: Big name company. Reputation. Telecommuting options for work/life flexibility. Benefits. Cons: Outsourcing MANY US jobs. Little room for growth. Very average pay if not a little lower. Secretive with details about big changes. Advice to Senior Management: Invest in the US and stop outsourcing. It is not sustainable and will only come about to hurt the company in the end.
  • IBM Manager: (Current Employee) "Very nice." Pros: Work life balance. Secure even when market goes down. Cons: Very big organization, strong network works very well. Advice to Senior Management: More close look to employees aspiration will help.
  • IBM Business Analyst: (Current Employee) "Great start, too many cuts." Pros: Some brilliant people in the organization. Tremendous power when the company works as a team to accomplish a goal. Strong sense of community. Opportunity to experience a global workforce and global focus. When you work with teams committed to growth, there is real drive and determination. Cons: Business seems to be more concerned with cutting costs than anything else. So large you have trouble bridging organizations, sending a common message and employees become just a number. Advice to Senior Management: Pay more attention to your employees and less on cost cutting. Created an environment where everyone looks over their shoulder for the next "RA" which is counterproductive.
  • IBM Anonymous: (Current Employee) "later" Pros: Working from home is great. Work with some top people in the market place. Brand recognition. Work can be done remotely. Cons: Poor bonus, utilization issues being over worked. Pay cycle for bonus or salary increases. They run IBM like it's broke. Advice to Senior Management: I will come back to enter in more, not at this time, will later and provide more information. Thanks you.
• Business Insurance: Court can't alter CIGNA cash balance plan: Supreme Court. By Jerry Geisel. Excerpts: Courts do not have the right to rewrite the terms and conditions of an employer's new retirement plan, even if the employer did not properly explain the changes, due to federal pension law, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. Advertisement The case, CIGNA Corp. et al. vs. Janice C. Amara et al., involves a cash balance pension plan that CIGNA Corp. set up in 1998 to replace a traditional final average pay plan. ...

  The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut ruled that the insurer's description of the plan was incomplete and inaccurate and that it intentionally misled employees. The court changed certain of the new plan's benefits, including how an employee's opening account balance would be calculated among other changes.

• Business Insurance: Duke Energy pays $30M to settle cash balance plan suit. By Jerry Geisel. Excerpts: A federal judge has given final approval to a settlement in which Duke Energy Corp. will pay about $30 million, including more than $9 million to plaintiff attorneys, to end litigation involving its cash balance pension plan. Advertisement In a suit filed in 2006 and later given class action status, the plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that Duke did not properly calculate the value of certain lump-sum distributions from its pension plan. ...

  Duke converted its traditional final average pay pension plan to a cash balance plan. Unlike many employers that have frozen defined benefit plans, including cash balance plans, and moved exclusively to defined contribution plans, Duke Energy continues to offer its cash balance plan.

• Wall Street Journal: In Hiring, Firms Shine Images. Employer-Branding Campaigns Try to Attract Most-Coveted Job Candidates. By Joe Light. Excerpts: Companies have long set aside resources to develop and market consumer brands. Now, some are finding that to attract the best job candidates, they need to put similar efforts into their so-called employer brands. Unlike a company's product brands—say Fritos or Dial—employer brands target potential employees to make a company seem like a desirable place to work.

  The slow job market has brought the perception that job takers are plentiful, but already companies are finding that the most skilled candidates are in short supply, and are difficult to find, recruiters say. This has prompted some companies to launch employer-branding campaigns for the first time in several years.

  Potentialpark AB, a market-research firm that specializes in employer branding, has seen the number of analyses it does for companies almost double in the past year, said Chief Executive Torgil Lenning, whose clients include Hewlett Packard Co. and Credit Suisse Group.

• Washington Post: As Indian companies grow in the U.S., outsourcing comes home. By Paul Glader. Excerpts: Ray Capuana paces the rows of cubicles in a haggard high-rise a stone's throw from Wall Street as his people hustle the phones and hope for a bonus check. His employees are not bond traders, though. They are call center workers. Many are African Americans without college degrees. Some lack high school diplomas. They work for a Mumbai-based company called Aegis Communications.

  India's outsourcing giants — faced with rising wages at home — have looked for growth opportunities in the United States. But with Washington crimping visas for visiting Indian workers, some companies such as Aegis are slowly hiring workers in North America, where their largest corporate customers are based. In this evolution, outsourcing has come home.

  Capuana, a manager for Aegis in New York, motivates this U.S. office with dress-down days and the prospect that workers could, one day, earn a stint training call center workers in Goa, India. One of his tasks is to staff 176 cubicles, where workers make or take calls for customers of prescription drug plans or Medicare contracts and enter and verify information. The pay runs $12 to $14 an hour, with bonus checks of up to $730 a month. ...

  At its U.S. sites, Aegis says, 90 percent or more of its workers are American. In that way, Aegis is an exception to the rule. Until now, India-based outsourcing companies have largely brought Indian workers into the United States using H-1B visas and L-1 visas and have been the heaviest users of those programs. ...

  Some say the visa practice has hurt U.S. jobs and wages. These new visa categories were created by the Immigration Act of 1990, allowing foreigners to work in the country for up to six years. The aim was to lure high-tech talent. Tech America, an industry trade group, says that the visas are crucial to American innovation, future competitiveness and job creation.

  But they have been abused, too. In a study released in 2008, the government found fraud and technical violations on 20.7 percent of H-1B applications. Violations ranged "from document fraud to deliberate misstatements regarding job locations, wages paid and duties performed," said Donald Neufeld, of the Department of Homeland Security, at a March hearing. ...

  Some lawmakers are looking to curb the practice and to encourage the India-based outsourcing firms to follow Aegis's model of hiring Americans at U.S. sites. Issuance of regular H-1B visas — 10,200 so far this year — is down 43 percent percent from 2010, according to federal data. Last year, the Obama administration added a roughly $2,000 fee per H-1B visa for large companies, which could be curbing applications.

  In the past, if, say, BNY Mellon inked an IT contract with Infosys, Infosys would handle 70 percent of the work in India and send 30 percent of its project staff to the United States on temporary work visas. These Indian workers often live in ethnic enclaves on the outskirts of a city, work long hours and earn less than an American would for the same work. ...

  Critics of the visa programs, such as Ronil Hira, a public policy professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, say the work arrangements can amount to indentured servitude. The workers are often paid "home-country wages" in America. "That's as low as $8,000 a year" with housing allowances, he says. The employers own the visas — so the workers can't bargain for wages, and if they lose their job they have to leave the country.

  Hira said Indian workers still make up more than 90 percent of most outsourcing companies' U.S. head counts. He and other critics argue that many of these workers are not more highly skilled than their American counterparts but are simply willing to work for less. "It's harming American workers," he said. "It's taking away their job opportunities, bringing down their wages and harming their working conditions." ...

  Robert Webb, chief information officer at Hilton Worldwide, said Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys increasingly rival the established consulting companies, such as IBM, Accenture and Bain Consulting, in areas such as integrating massive computer systems, developing applications for companies and even strategy consulting. He predicts that the India-based companies "will evolve to be more like one of the traditional consulting firms in the U.S." by taking on higher-end capabilities such as business planning, industry knowledge and change management. Already, they are "starting to encroach on IBM's territory, where data centers can be run from other parts of the world."

  He said IBM and Accenture are rapidly hiring talent in India and other emerging markets as a counterstrategy. "They're all keeping their eyes on wage inflation in low-cost countries" like India, where wages are increasing 10 percent a year.

  Hilton hired Tata Consultancy Services in 2009 to take over some back-office operations, such as human resources, financial systems and its intranet portal for the company's 10 brands and 3,700 hotels. Hilton used to handle this work in-house or with hundreds of small consultants.

• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Start Topic Life is great in the FABS" by "workforlife". Full excerpt: Yes, life is GREAT in the FABS. If you are an operator, you most likely work for Manpower. Your time is watched and if you so much as say 'boo' about the conditions or IBM, you are out the door. If you are a young production tech there is a good chance you are a long term complimentary (supplemental). You have three years to get a real job. Say one bad word and you are out. No HR on your side. New hire engineer with a masters. You may or may not be a full time hire. IBM does not want you any longer than 10 years. They do not care what you think. Long term tech or engineer. Keep your mouth shut or get a three and a free ticket to the RA train.

  Management has no clue why employee morale is so bad. Fishkill management has said so at public meetings. Production and development teams tell management what they want to hear while keeping the resumes polished and always ready.

  It is amazing that out second and third line were taken by surprise when 4 key people left in an 8 month period. Yes boss, yes boss, everything is just fine here.

• New York Times editorial: What's Good for Workers... Excerpts: The refusal by Congressional Republicans to renew assistance for workers who lose their jobs to overseas competition is another instance of their callous determination to slash the budget at the expense of the most vulnerable Americans. It is also bad for American business and other constituents dearer to their hearts. ...

  The Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which has enjoyed strong bipartisan support, retrains displaced workers and provides extended unemployment insurance. The 2009 stimulus bill added health insurance benefits and expanded the list of those eligible to include the large number of service-sector workers displaced by outsourcing. Those expanded benefits expired in February.

• AlterNet: Accusing DSK of Sexual Assault Took Guts -- But Union Protection Is Essential. A woman attacked by her employer's very powerful customer was perhaps empowered to come forward knowing her union contract meant she wouldn't lose her job for it. By Adele M. Stan. Excerpts: In ancient times we had fables, myths and parables to explain to us the vicissitudes of nature and the nature of power, stories drawn to illuminate a given culture's moral code. Today we have the news media.

  As a morality tale about abuse of power, and the abuses of the powerful, the fall from grace of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former chief of the International Monetary Fund, is a doozy. Arrested last week for allegedly assaulting and forcing sex on a housekeeper at a luxury hotel in New York, a man who once ranked among the world's most powerful now sits, forlorn, in a jail cell on Rikers Island -- all because an immigrant woman in a lowly position had the temerity to tell a superior that one of her employer's very important clients had done, by her account, terrible things to her.

  By any measure, it was a risky thing to do. There's a reason most rapes go unreported. But there was one thing that housekeeper knew could not be done to her for reporting her account, observes a colleague in the labor movement: she could not be fired for having done so, because of the contract between her union, the New York Hotel Trades Council, and the Sofitel Hotel at which she works. ...

  It could be that it's just in her make-up to do what she did in making her complaint against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, something the woman whose account brought down the mighty would have done whether her job was protected or not, something she would have done without the fellowship of her brothers and sisters in the union. But, when considering her options, having the bit of protection provided by the union likely played a role in her decision to move forward. Fellowship and solidarity surely have their place in the stories we tell to explain the nature of power.