Karen Friedman Detroit Free Press July 23, 2012 View the original piece By Friday, 42,000 salaried General Motors retirees will have made a critical financial decision that will dictate whether they have a secure or insecure retirement. GM is requiring these loyal old-timers to either exchange their lifetime monthly pension benefits for a onetime lump-sum payment or continue to receive equivalent lifetime monthly payments paid by Prudential instead of GM. Understandably, after years of serving the...

June 28, 2012: Corporations have targeted workers' pensions for elimination. Teamsters, teachers, fire fighters, Verizon workers and more are in this fight together. Now add rail workers to that list, including 65,000 Teamsters. Incredibly, their pensions are under attack even though their plan is well-funded, and it costs zero tax dollars. And they are not covered by social security. It's under attack in Congress, with Paul Ryan (R-Wisc) as the point man. Since it would...

June 8, 2012: The Central States Pension Fund’s 2011 Financial and Analytical Reports show that the fund was down to $17.7 billion at the end of 2011. The reports – which were received by Teamsters for a Democratic Union this week – also describe in more detail decisions regarding YRC Teamsters, and a new rule on withdrawal liability. Fund assets dipped from $19.9 billion at the start of 2011, to $17.7 at the end of...