United and Social Security

Tonight on the way home, I was listening to the radio and they were discussing unions and what not. A female called in and recalled a particularly harrowing story. Both her and her husband worked for United Airlines. They were retired and they began to collect on their pensions. Recently, the airline bypassed the bankruptcy laws and struck a deal to basically gut their retiree employee pension plans.

While I’ll readily admit that I do not know all of the facts, hearing this caller sent shivers down my spine.

One of the many things the union did in order to make United Airlines profitable was to negotiate key settlements with the various machinists, flight attendants and other unions so as to secure their place in the future all the while running an employee friendly airline.

United declared bankruptcy several years ago and most recently they defaulted on the pension obligations to those that agreed on the modest salaries and other negotiated settlements. The end result basically gutted the United Airlines employee pension benefits leaving countless thousands without the promise of their agreement.

In another words, the Union held their end of the bargain, the company did not.

How is it then that this President wants to push his social security plan in the face of Americans who would stand to lose even MORE than they do currently? It seems to me that people would like some assurances that they will be taken care of – which obviously did not happen in United’s case – a case where employees sought out a privatization option for their retirement only to have it gutted.

Bush’s Social Security will not be adequate. It will not work. It has a greater possibility of ending up in the tank just like United’s employees.

Sometimes we just have to think before we act. Sometimes we just need to have the foresight to realize a bad idea from a good one. Sometimes we just need to slow down and let an answer come gradually.