Delphi Pension Fallout: Federal Government Picked Winners & Losers, So Who Won and Who Lost?

Chairman Issa Preview Hearing Statement

Today’s hearing will examine what happened with the Delphi Pension plan in the midst of the federal government’s bailout of General Motors in 2009.  While the pensions of unionized Delphi workers were largely protected as Delphi went through bankruptcy thanks to guarantees coming from the federal government/GM, non-union salaried Delphi employees saw their pensions greatly reduced.

Delphi – originally a part of General Motors – became an independent company in 1999. As part of this separation, an agreement was reached giving unionized Delphi employees a guarantee from GM that it would make pension plans whole in the event of a Delphi bankruptcy.  No such agreement was made for the salaried retirees.

The committee has not received clear answers about what would have happened with Delphi pension plans had GM gone through bankruptcy rather than receiving a federal bailout.  What is clear, however, is that when Delphi plans were terminated in 2009, the salaried retirees faced immense hardship and lost health coverage while unionized employees were protected.

Today’s hearing builds on the Committee’s previous oversight of the Delphi pension issue. Rep. Jim Jordan’s subcommittee held a hearing on these matters and Rep. Turner and Rep. Burton have been strong advocates for the Delphi Salaried Retirees since the beginning of their ordeal.  This hearing seeks to shed additional light on what happened and some of the outstanding questions from federal government’s involvement in the rescue of GM.