United Airline’s Employees Pension Plans
An event in the headlines today that will require human resource involvement is United Airline’s decision to most likely terminate all of its employees pension plans due to bankruptcy and turn them over to the PBGC or Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The PBGC is a federal agency that insures traditional pensions in case companies go “belly up”. Basically what this amounts to is that United Airlines worker’s retirement plans could be cut by up to 75 percent. The decision to end the pension plans by United Airlines is stated as “creating the biggest default in U.S. history and forcing a possible bailout” (The Christian Science Monitor, Alexandra Marks).
This issue is not exclusive to United Airlines workers but to any employee who works for a company suffering from financial troubles. If United goes through with ending the pension plans, it is feared that the other airlines currently suffering financial troubles will soon follow suit. Because of globalization and competition from low-wage companies that do not offer company paid pension plans, the responsibility for retirement security may shift from the airlines to the individual workers to take care of. Advice from Brad Belt, executive director of the PBGC is that “It’s incumbent on individuals to be well informed, prudent about their investments, and to save accordingly.”
Union members are angry because United Airlines went behind their backs and reached...
This strike was a battle over several issues. One factor that escalated the strike intensity was the pensions battle. Billons of dollars in pensions were on the line. The Teamste...
Robert Arnott describes risk and return as “having two sides of the same coin” meaning risk is inseparable from return. Arnott points out the most important risks that are faced by managers of company pension plans: underperforming other corporate pension funds (their peers), losing money (mostly associated with portfolio standard deviation or volatility), and underperforming the values of pension obligations and therefore losing actuarial ground. He defines each of these risks as well as giving a few examples on each one. He quickly jumps into how many tend to focus on standard deviation as the only a single metric calculation, rather than recognizing there are other ways to do so. The author discourages the focus on just one risk, because all are intertwined together and rely on one another.
The push for Congress to pass legislation protecting the rights of employees and their retirement was inevitable. Retirement plans are extremely important for all working individuals. Having funds to keep or exceed ones current standard of living and to enjoy one’s life beyond expectations after retire...
In the planning process, the health care organization’s first step should be to identify alternative expense reduction measures that can be implemented. Marshall and Broas (2009) and McConnell (2006) state that measures such as hiring freezes, reduced work hours, reduced salaries or bonuses, early retirement, limited use of temporary workers and discrepancy spending should be explored first before resorting to mass reduction in the workforce. Given the numerous legal cases in which employees have accused companies of lavish spending during layoff processes, a company should consider taking expense reduction measures. This would show that the company had explored another alternative before resorting to a RIF, and it would also help employers dismiss employees claims that the RIF was not necessary or discriminatory ( Marshall & Broas,2009) .Whatever alternative expense reduction measures were taken by the company along with the reasons for doing so should also be documented( Marshall & Broas,2009).Documenting the reason for the RIF, should be the next step.
Clements, B. J. (2014). Equitable and sustainable pensions: challenges and experience. Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund.
As one of the world’s largest airline, United Airlines employs over 80,000 people and transports over 143 million people a year ("United Airlines newsroom," 2017). These staggering numbers equate to billions of interactions between the public and United Airlines employees and subsidiaries. It is understandable that a company with such a large public audience and employee base would have a code of ethics statement to help its employees so that they can make decisions that are in line with company expectations.
San Diego has an unfunded pension liability of $2.1 billion. There was the choice of either cutting public goods and services or raises taxes in order to pay for them. There are three events that played a significant role in the pension crisis. The first of these being Proposition 98.
Maynard, Michelle. “Detroit Is Eligible For Bankruptcy, And City Pensions Are At Risk.” Forbes. Forbes. 3 December 2013. Web. 4 December 2013
Then came the question, should the employer be the one responsible for providing health insurance. While everyone on the panel could agree that our health care system in 2008 was broken, most seemed opposed to the alternative solution of universal healthcare. There is an incentive to the company to offer health insurance to a human being that may receive the opportunity to receive health insurance from another company. However, taking health insurance responsibility away from the employer and making it the government’s responsibility would increase availability and possibly eliminate freedom of
Retirement Retirement seems to be one of the most often overlooked areas of people’s future plan. Simply because it seems so far away, it is an area that is subject to procrastination. People are expected to live longer now than ever before, this is another reason why young adults and teenagers are not worried about saving for their retirement. The baby boom generation, the seventy seven million people born between 1943 and 1960, face an entirely different retirement plan. As they began to retire, people are starting to think that there will be no money left and this will turn into a crisis. What will happen when seventy-seven million baby boomers begin to want the money they paid in… but it is not there? Retirement provisions such as Social Security, IRA’s, and 401k’s are there to help when you are deciding how to save money. Social Security started a long time ago, in the 1930’s, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. He was elected president in November 1932. By March there were over thirteen million people that were unemployed, and almost every bank was closed. Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a sweeping program to being recovery to business and to agriculture and relief to those who were in fear of losing their farms and homes to being unemployed. In 1935, recovery was slowing arriving, but more And more people were turning against Roosevelt’s New Deal program. This led Roosevelt to a new program of reform, which we know today as social security.
Social Security has become a primary source of income for so many retirees and disabled workers. With the increase in recipients, the fund will experience a shortfall that will impact future retirees. The future of Social Security looks bleak unless the government takes steps to reform the program to continue to meet the needs of the current as well as the future recipients. Whether it is to raise taxes, decrease benefits, or privatize Social Security, action is needed. We all want the benefit of enjoying our later years after retirement but it would be hard to enjoy life after work when your primary source of income disappears with no alternative. There are many options to explore to make the changes needed. Reform to Social Security needs to be made soon or it will not last beyond the next generation of retirees.
United Airlines aircraft have soared through the skies for more than 70 years. Initially used to transport U.S. mail, the planes soon took on a few adventurous passengers. In a matter of years, air travel was embraced by the general public, creating a demand for larger, faster, more luxurious aircraft.
Pension provides an income when people have stopped working. Also, it provides important forms of insurance against long life, prices, relative benefit drops and savings shocks. As well as it is an important benefactor to the financial security of a majority of Australian men and women of retirement age, with about 70 per cent of people of pension age receiving the Age Pension (Australia and Treasury, 2015). The government can provide this type of insurance for less than it costs individuals to insure themselves by sharing long life risk, and hedging the
...hoose from. Today there are not near as many airlines to choose from which creates an almost monopolistic feel in the airline industry. Now there are maybe two or three airlines to choose from which creates an oligopoly. According to the Huffington Post, “In oligopoly competition situation, prices move in lock step, even without overt (and illegal!) collusion between the parties” (Neches). So in the end the merger is really not looking too good for the Airline industry. Not only is the merger not looking good for the industry, but for the company as well. Merging two broken companies will not produce a strong company. Everything from Computer system malfunctions, union issues, and aircraft malfunctions have plagued every single step of this merger. The United-Continental merger may have made them the largest airliner in the world, but it has not made them the best.
Retirement comes early for most people. Early meaning that we are not ready for what comes with it. Most people would love to retire today, but unfortunately it is nearly impossible. It takes a lifetime for a person to become financial stable and adequately equip with assets that have been gained throughout someone’s life. Everyone must start young, in fact the sooner the better. Any money, or savings that can be applied today will always come with an enhanced future. So is it worth it to work harder and save now in order to possibly access a pleasant retirement? With out effort now we will be dependent on other sources in our retirement years, sources that may not come through for everyone who needs it. There are three ways to help Americans be better prepared now. These methods include saving money now, and investing in sources with returns. Do not become one of the millions of Americans who fall into government assisted retirement plans by lack of preparation and planning.