Rep. Turner: TRUMP Considering Intervening in Delphi Salaried Retirees' Fight for Pensions

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, issued the following news release:

On Monday aboard Air Force One, Congressman Mike Turner (OH-10) and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine asked President Donald J. Trump to intervene on behalf of Delphi Salaried Retirees in the fight for their pensions. Turner has previously discussed this issue with the President, as well as his top advisors.

During the Obama Administration's 2009 taxpayer-funded General Motors (GM) bankruptcy bailout, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) unjustly terminated the earned pension plans of more than 20,000 Delphi Salaried Retirees. This decision caused devastating financial losses to these families since they depended upon their pensions, earned through decades of faithful service, to survive during retirement. The Delphi Salaried Retirees have been fighting since 2009 for their pensions. They have filed suit against the PBGC in Federal District Court in Detroit. The Delphi Salaried Retirees have requested that President Trump intervene in the pending litigation.

"This week I again spoke to President Trump about the Delphi Salaried Retirees' fight for their pensions," said Turner. "President Trump understands that the Obama Administration unjustly terminated these pensions. He is now considering intervening on behalf of the Retirees' in this over decade-long fight. I will continue to advocate for these Retirees, as I have since 2009 when the Obama Administration wrongly took the pensions they had worked for and earned."

"During the President's visit to Ohio, I urged the President to restore the Delphi Salaried Retirees' pensions," said DeWine. "The President was receptive to our message of the plight of these Retirees. I urge him to move forward to aid these Retirees and their pensions."

"The Obama-Biden non-solution to the GM bankruptcy was to help offshore Delphi operations to Mexico and China while stripping the pensions from Delphi's hardworking Salaried Retirees," said Peter Navarro, Assistant to President Trump for Trade and Manufacturing Policy. "We are looking at every legal option available to remedy this Obama-Biden betrayal. This issue has the President's attention."

The Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) in its report (https://www.sigtarp.gov/Audit%20Reports/SIGTARP_Delphi_Report.pdf) on the Obama-Biden's Treasury's role in GM's Delphi pension decisions reported criticism of the disparate treatment of Delphi salaried employees. SIGTARP also reported the Delphi Salaried Retirees had no leverage in the bankruptcy process while the Obama-Biden Auto Task Force provided UAW employees a seat at the table. "According to a Treasury document, it was estimated that Delphi Salaried Retirees would lose approximately $440 million in pension benefits," reported SIGTARP.

Presidential Candidate Joe Biden previously asserted that once the Obama-Biden Administration terminated the Delphi Salaried Retirees pensions, his Administration was powerless to intervene further. Commenting on the pending litigation, then-Vice President Biden said while visiting Youngstown in 2012, "We can't direct [PBGC] to make good on all of the pensions. We were able to protect the hourly workers. Some salaried workers got hurt, particularly the younger ones."

"In 2009, the Obama-Biden Administration picked winners and losers in GM's bailout," said Den Black, Board Chair of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association. "They can and should have treated Delphi Salaried Retirees fairly and equally in that bailout, but they didn't--our pensions were needlessly and wrongfully terminated. We were left out in the cold. The pension earned by Delphi Salaried Retirees is wrongfully held by the PBGC, and needs to be returned to the Salaried Retirees. I am encouraged and appreciate President Trump's interest in righting the Obama Administration's wrong."

Testimonial from Dayton area Delphi Salaried Retirees:

Tom Rose: "Delphi Salaried Retirees Pensions were needlessly terminated to the PBGC during the Auto Bailout by Obama/Biden in order to expedite the GM bankruptcy. This has forced significant financial hardship upon us. We were roadkill. We greatly appreciate the initiative by President Trump's administration to restore the pensions that we earned. Our pensions belong to us, but are being wrongfully held by the PBGC. Obama stole them, but President Trump can return them, at no cost to the taxpayers. Simply return what we earned!"

Tom Green: "President Trump's consideration of intervening on behalf of the Delphi Salaried Retirees regarding our lost pensions is a welcomed blessing. Many of us have spent thousands of hours in this struggle since 2009. There often was no light at the end of the tunnel. This provides us the light that we need to hopefully make our way out of this tunnel we have been stuck in for over a decade.

In my 36 years with GM and Delphi, I had the privilege to work with thousands of Delphi Salaried Team Members. Dedicated, hardworking and focused employees, who very often put in more than the expected 40 hours per week - whatever it took to get the job done. This was done with the expectation of retiring with a full pension, health care and other benefits. That all went out the window in 2009, and the facts show that was needlessly done.

Our retirees have suffered. We all had to pay dearly for family health care plans, on a reduced pension. Many have gone back to work to make ends meet, and retirement plans were put on hold.

I urge President Trump to take this action to right a wrong that never should have occurred. It would bring tears of happiness to our discouraged retirees and their families. It is the right thing to do."

William Braun: "I had worked for 38 years at Delphi and ended up losing 35% of what I expected my pension due to the ruling of the 'Automotive Task Force' chartered through President Obama. I voted for President Trump in 2016 and planned to again in 2020. We know he cares about the middle class in America thus our support."

Mary T. Miller: "I am exceedingly grateful to President Donald Trump for considering correcting the unjust termination of Delphi Salaried Pension Plan by the PBGC. He has the courage necessary to right this outrageous wrong perpetrated by the Obama Administration. My family, my many friends and vast network of former associates have pinned our hopes on having our pensions fully restored."

Marlane F. Bengry: "I'm so thankful that Mike Turner has provided our President with the details regarding the loss of our pensions 11 years ago. I'm so glad President Trump has been willing to listen to the concerns affecting 20,000 Delphi Salaried Retirees. It gives me hope that there may still be the possibility of restoring our stolen pensions. My prayers continue."