Becker
Danson stated in “Private employees merit same benefits” (Mailbag,
June 3) that, “A secure retirement,
most of us would agree, is not as Weber states a “ridiculous” notion.” Danson was referring to my statement in “Some
city salaries are outrageous” (Mailbag,
May 29) that, “Such ridiculous union contracts signed by highly paid
corporate executives have brought our American auto companies to their knees.”
I hope that Danson was the
only reader to conclude that I oppose secure retirement contracts. Secure retirement contracts do not result in
companies going bankrupt because their retirement pensions and benefits are so
extreme that continuing to pay same becomes, in the long term, unsustainable.
On the contrary, I, like
Danson, am 100% in favor of retirement contracts in both the public and private
sectors that are fair and sustainable for all employees. But “sustainable” implies that the private
and/or public entity will have the capability of continuing to maintain a fully
funded retirement account long after all employees have retired.
Unfortunately General Motors,
Ford and Chrysler all entered into unsustainable union contracts that have
resulted in the laying off of hundreds of thousands of workers, not only in GM,
Ford and Chrysler factories, but also in hundreds of supporting businesses.
I retired in 1989 after 37
years at Lockheed with a fair and sustainable pension. Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin) management had
more sense than the management of GM, Ford and Chrysler, as well as the
Glendale City Council, to enter into any unsustainable pension contracts. Would I like my pension checks to be
larger? Of course! But not at the risk of the corporation going
bankrupt and my pension becoming worthless.
Pensions such as those
approved by the Glendale City Council that allow employees to retire at age 50
at 90% or more of their highest salary are unreasonable and unsustainable. These contracts have been agreed to by council
members who have received large financial contributions
from the employee unions, and who have agreed to conduct all salary and pension
negotiations in closed sessions (secret).
Hal Weber