[Bill]

I am a 41-year-old man who has worked for a large international corporation for 18 years. The company recently decided to change its pension plan which, in effect, reduces my pension by about 40 percent. The plan primarily affects mid-career employees such as myself. Those near retirement age (25 or more years of service) are allowed to choose between the old and new plan. Our state representatives in Washington are looking into the legality of this and call it age discrimination. How do people in the business sector view this? Discriminatory or not?

User Detail :  

Name : Bill, Gender : M, Age : 41, City : Burlington, State : VT Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jesse-N30811]

I'm 40, and I've got 18 years with a big American corporation, so I'm in a very similar situation. Let's face it, big business has no regard for its employees. It will treat you with no respect whatsoever and will do whatever it can to increase profits this quarter. The rank-and-file employees are dead last on the management's priorities. Those are the sad facts of life, so you had better get used to it.

User Detail :  

Name : Jesse-N30811, Gender : M, Age : 40, City : Herzliya, State : NA Country : Israel, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Tinu]

I would say it is discriminatory. But I would also say it is time we all stopped being so dependent on one source of income to sustain us. It's not fair, but the only power we have to stop this is to own our own piece of the American pie. Good luck to you. What a bum rap.

User Detail :  

Name : Tinu, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 27, City : Greenbelt, State : MD Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Lucy H]

At least you have a pension. I just graduated a few years ago with a degree in engineering. Nobody I know in my age bracket even has a pension plan. We have 401K plans with skimpy employer contributions. Luckily these plans are transferable when the employee changes companies, because most of us will be downsized several times during our careers. People need to realize that they need to provide for their own retirement income, not rely on their company or the government.

User Detail :  

Name : Lucy H, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 24, City : San Jose, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Bill23071]

On September 17th my company relented and partially reversed their decision to cut pensions. Now they plan to allow all employees aged 40 as of June 1, 1999 with ten or more years of service to choose which plan they want. I fall into this category, while many others do not. However, the company backpeddled only after it received a subpeona from the IRS to answer questions on the age discrimination aspect. A company executive testified before congress, and the issue remains open.

User Detail :  

Name : Bill23071, Gender : M, Age : 41, City : Burlington, State : VT Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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