Turner seeks resolution for retirees’ benefits in case against pension company

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) last week led a bipartisan contingent in requesting that President Donald Trump help settle pending litigation prior to any future federal emergency relief funds being authorized for U.S. automakers.

Specifically, Rep. Turner and his colleagues sent a May 12 letter to the president stipulating that before any COVID-19 emergency relief funds are offered to the U.S. auto industry that the pension plans of the Delphi Salaried Retirees be restored.

The retirees have been embroiled in pending litigation in Black, et al. v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), in which PBGC is alleged to have failed to comply with federal law by improperly terminating the retirees’ pension plans during the Obama administration’s 2009 General Motors bankruptcy bailout, according to the lawmakers’ letter.

The earned pension plans of more than 20,000 Delphi Salaried Retirees were terminated unjustly, the members wrote.

“This decision caused devastating financial losses to these families. Now is the perfect opportunity for this injustice to be corrected,” wrote Rep. Turner and his colleagues. “The auto industry should not receive taxpayer funds for a bailout again until the injustice from the last bailout is remedied.”

Rep. Turner and his colleagues request that Delphi Salaried Retirees’ full pension benefits be restored and that the costs incurred from the litigation be repaid, their letter states.

Among the members who joined Rep. Turner in signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson (R-OH), Susan Brooks (R-IN), and Tim Ryan (D-OH).