United Airlines' pension dump should scare autoworkers

If you haven’t heard about this yet, a bankruptcy judge

approved United Airlines’ dump of its unfounded pension plans on a federal agency. Under the ruling United could
shift all $6.6 billion of liabilities to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Any worker whose pension would have been
over the $45,613 a year maximum that PBGC pays lose out. Other airlines may follow suit since they will be at a cost
disadvantage with United. Sound familiar? I am just floating this out there as a topic of conversation, but with GM and
Ford bonds at junk status and legacy costs adding thousands of dollars to every car’s sticker price, don’t you think
that some bean counter in an office is looking at this and saying, “Good idea.” That’s scary if you are an autoworker.
It’s even scarier to fly with ticked-off United Airlines pilots. Don’t fly angry.

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