WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) are leading a bicameral, bipartisan letter to Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Congressman Darell Issa (R-CA), Chairmen of the Senate and House Oversight Committees respectively, urging them to continue their Committees’ examinations of matters pertaining to the unjust termination of Delphi salaried retiree pensions. 

“Since the Committees are responsible for government oversight, we ask that you investigate the disparities in the treatment of pensions between Delphi Corporation’s hourly- and salary-based employees.  We request that you pursue information from the Department of the Treasury, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and all other interested parties,” write the lawmakers.

In the course of President Obama’s bailout of General Motors, more than 20,000 salaried retirees of the Delphi Corporation had their pensions wrongfully terminated and drastically reduced, whereas hourly retirees were made whole with generous “top-up” agreements.  The Administration’s decision to deny these salaried retirees their hard-earned retirement has left some retirees with their pensions reduced by up to seventy percent and faced with the Administration’s continued refusal to provide information in a thorough and transparent manner.         

“Congress should hold the Treasury and the PBGC accountable for their actions, and we hope the Committees’ efforts will help resolve this longstanding issue.  We ask that you work to provide greater clarity and transparency into actions that lead to this unfortunate outcome,” added the lawmakers.

Wicker and Turner are joined by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Dan Coats (R-IN), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Alan Nunnelee (R-MS), Steven Palazzo (R-MS), Susan Brooks (R-IN), J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), Gregg Harper (R-MS), David Joyce (R-OH), Luke Messer (R-IN), Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), and Austin Scott (R-GA).

The text of the letter:

May 30, 2013

Dear Chairman Carper and Chairman Issa,

With the 113th Congress well under way, we are writing to urge the Committees to continue to examine matters pertaining to the unjust termination of Delphi salaried retiree pensions. 

Since the Committees are responsible for government oversight, we ask that you investigate the disparities in the treatment of pensions between Delphi Corporation’s hourly- and salary-based employees.  We request that you pursue information from the Department of the Treasury, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and all other interested parties. 

As you are aware, when the federal government bailed out General Motors in 2009, more than 20,000 Delphi salaried retirees saw their benefits and pensions severely reduced while the pensions of their union counterparts were made whole.  Like Americans across the country, non-union Delphi retirees have built their careers with the promise of a financially secure retirement.  Their pensions were earned working side by side with their union counterparts.

Congress should hold the Treasury and the PBGC accountable for their actions, and we hope the Committees’ efforts will help resolve this longstanding issue.  We ask that you work to provide greater clarity and transparency into actions that lead to this unfortunate outcome. 

Thank you for your continued commitment to this issue.

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