gm pension hole

   uaw sky chiefs
      need to reconsider all 
      recent GM hand jobs .....

  "she's rollin over mates "

===========================

The federal government contends 
that General Motors' pension fund 
is $31 billion short 

in stark contrast  
G.M. assures one and all
 pension plans are "fully funded."

 
The government's finding 
of a huge imbalance 
suggests that the pension fund 
may have much larger claims 
on the company 
than G.M.'s financial filings 
have indicated



"Both the government agency's 
and G.M.'s methods
 of tracking pensions 
are legally acceptable"

 




"The General Motors pension fund 
is by far 
the biggest in American industry"

" promising benefits 
to more than 600,000 workers
 retirees and surviving spouses"

 The discrepancy between the government's and the company's figures is the result of different assumptions made about how long G.M. would keep operating the pension fund.

 "The federal guarantor
 made its estimate
 on what is called a termination basis 
 it measured the amount 
that G.M. would owe its workers 
if it were to terminate 
its pension plans immediately"


 
"Since 1994, 
companies with weak pension funds 
have been required by law 
to calculate the value 
of their pension funds 
on a termination basis 
and to send the information
 to the pension guaranty agency
 But Congress also enacted 
a measure keeping the information secret
 in response 
to the stated concerns of companies
 who argued that the information
 could be misconstrued 
if shared with the public"

"The agency made its own calculation 
at the end of June 
and released the figure 
in response to a request 
under the Freedom of Information Act" 





 

"(Companies with plenty of money 
can also terminate their pension plans
 by paying an insurance company 
to take over the obligations.
 In G.M.'s case, 
the government estimated 
that an insurer would charge 
$31 billion in addition 
to the money in the fund.) "






 

" there is the trouble with Delphi
 a struggling parts supplier 
that used to be a unit of G.M.
 and has said it will file 
for bankruptcy protection 
by the middle of this month 
unless it receives 
a multibillion-dollar bailout
 from G.M. and the United Auto Workers union"


 

" a pending  Senate bill would  require companies 
to make up any shortfalls 
in their pension funds within seven years"



" Companies with junk-level credit ratings 
would have seven years 
to close the larger gaps 
that the termination method discloses"