Handling of Delphi pensions to be investigated, congressman says

A New York congressman has said an independent investigation will review the federal government’s treatment of Delphi Corp. retirees’ pensions.

U.S. Rep. Chris Lee, D-N.Y., posted a letter on his website early this week from Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), saying Barofsky will audit whether salaried retirees were treated differently than union or hourly retirees and whether the TARP program or the Obama administration pressured General Motors Corp. to “top off” the pensions of hourly retirees.

Last year, then-bankrupt Delphi released its pension obligations to the federally backed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. That has meant large cuts to the pensions of both salaried and hourly retirees.

However, GM — of which Delphi was once a part — never offered contractually to make salaried pensions whole if they were transferred to the PBGC. Hourly retirees did receive that contractual support.

Hundreds of salaried Delphi retirees in the Dayton area — many of whom spent most of their careers working for GM, not Delphi — stand to lose the bulk or a high percentage of their pensions because of the PBGC takeover.

“This is great news,” said Den Black, a Piqua native and head of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association (DSRA), which represents the interests of that group of retirees.

The DSRA is also suing the U.S. Treasury Department and the federal Automotive Task Force among others in Detroit’s federal court to restore salaried pensions.

“When you combine this with our litigation and our congressional support ... it is a real big deal, because the pressure is building,” Black said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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