Letters: Nov. 21, 2005

The Great Retirement Ripoff Our investigative report on how Congress has allowed corporations to legally revoke employees' retirement benefits prompted expressions of outrage from workers whose pensions are at risk. But other readers decried Americans' lack of self-sufficiency and inability to save for their golden years

"Your report served to underscore the foolishness of relying only on one's employer or the government for financial security." LAWRENCE U. MCGEE Lewisville, N.C.

Thank you, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, for the superbly written and informative story "The Broken Promise" [Oct. 31] on how businesses are canceling employees' retirement plans. Never have I read such forthright material, stripping away all the spin and directly addressing an economic situation that will devastate all too many middle-class Americans. I appreciate the honest manner in which the report exposed both the coercion of corporations and the complicity of Congress. WILLIAM OVERLY Lancaster, Pa.

Our traditional retirement system, built on Social Security and defined-benefit pension plans, is an expensive relic of the 20th century welfare state. It discourages the creation of new jobs and encourages overseas outsourcing of existing jobs. And it also puts retirees in the vulnerable position of being dependent on inadequate government benefits and unreliable company pension plans. A system based on privatized Social Security and defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s would be less expensive, allowing businesses to better compete in the global economy. Granted, that shifts more of the retirement burden to the individual worker, but that's what we used to call being self reliant. DOUG HART Spokane, Wash.

Have our politicians become too gutless to represent retirees? "Round 'em up and hang 'em!" may not be the most practical solution to the retirement ripoff, but someone needs to let Congress know the hurt and anger of dedicated people who have worked a lifetime and then got the shaft. MICHAEL J. PRESTON Boulder, Colo.

As an 18-year airline employee who has taken two rounds of deep pay and benefit cuts, followed by the loss of my pension, I needed an airsick bag to get through your article. It is the trend for CEOs to take a company into bankruptcy and then bully workers to accept even more cuts or else suffer liquidation, contract nullification or outsourcing. These executives cite huge losses and global competition as their rationale, yet they somehow find millions upon millions of dollars to secure their own salaries, bonuses, pensions and perks. The obscene thing is that bankruptcy judges and Congress allow it. When will we all stand together and say, Enough? CAROLINE VIOLA Kailua, Hawaii

U.S. corporations did not provide defined-benefit pensions out of the goodness of their hearts. They did it because their workers were united in unions powerful enough to demand these benefits. With unions weak and shrinking, corporations feel free to discard what they regard as an onerous burden. A good legal reform would be to treat a pension obligation as a preferred creditor in any corporate bankruptcy proceeding or give pension trusts the first claim to all corporate assets. CHARLIE ROSENBERG Milwaukee, Wis.