JoB
Alki_2008..
AIG employees got retention bonuses guaranteed by contract.
while the auto companies were told that part of their bailout required them to break contracts with their employees and lower costs.
Same bailout.
The airline pilots (a similarly educated and possibly more experienced group than AIG employees) lost their pensions… including health care which was part of their lifetime employment package… and that was not only fine but celebrated in the business press because it was union busting and lowering wage costs.
And yes, they do have government guarantees on their pensions.. which start 3-5 years after they are required by law to quit flying and are about 1/10 the value of their pensions.
We are contesting retention bonuses at AIG, not severence packages.
As for what wages we taxpayers are being asked to subsidize.. it isn’t the low income worker.. it’s AIG employees with incomes over $250,000 who were paid retention bonuses.
I know it’s rough to be promised something that you don’t eventually get, but this is not some unique circumstance in our recent employment history… it just hits those with white collars and without unions this time.
i am sorry if i misread your last paragraph as part of your tirade against the unions at Boeing… but i am particularly incensed by the portrayal of unions as the cause of all business woes by the business media.. while they overlook the expectations of extreme profitability that fuel the stock market and the extreme wages paid to top management.. even if they fail. A Golden parachute is nothing more than a very large thank you gift for not doing your job… and the unwillingness (or posssibly inability due to inflated expectations of profit) of American manufacturers to invest in their infrastructure.
Nope, it’s the worker.. and if they could just cut wage costs and get tax breaks they could stay in your town.. or state.. or country.
it’s a load of bull and i am glad the retention bonuses at AIG have brought the subject out of the mire…
if restructuring and cutting wage costs is good for all other businesses, it’s good for AIG.