By Niket Nishant
(Reuters) – Boeing workers’ efforts to restore the traditional pension plans it ditched a decade ago feels to many like a long shot, as reinstating such a structure could exacerbate the planemaker’s shaky financial situation.
Bringing back the defined-benefit plans – where the pension liability is primarily borne by the employer – will require a major concession from the company, particularly as most corporations have drifted away from this model.
Boeing has resisted attempts to restore the plan. Jon Holden, the negotiator for the 33,000 Boeing workers on strike, hinted after the union rejected the company’s offer that workers might be satisfied with an alternative.
“It does come down to potentially exploring other defined-benefit options, which we are willing to do,” he said on Oct. 24 at a press conference.
The dispute highlights the delicate balancing act facing new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who is tasked with bringing a quick end to the crippling strike while avoiding overpromises.
Alternatives are more likely to look like defined-contribution plans – which are an expense for a company but do not add to its liabilities.
The United Auto Workers, in its strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis last year, managed to secure a generous increase in employer contributions to 401(k) plans without requiring workers to provide to them first.
“What the UAW ended up doing got them more of this non-elective contribution without it being linked to contributions from the employee,” said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the non-profit Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington.
The 401(k) plans are one of the most popular forms of retirement savings accounts in the U.S. and are funded both by employers and employees.
EVOLVING LANDSCAPE
Defined-benefit plans promise a predetermined monthly payout to retired employees, based on factors such as their wage and years of service.
Companies have ditched that model and embraced defined-contribution plans, which shift the responsibility of building up a retirement nest egg on to employees.
Such plans do not guarantee a fixed income upon retirement. Employees contribute to a retirement account and the eventual payout depends on the money saved over time.
“Most employers for the last 30 years have been working very hard to stop doing defined-benefit plans. It would be extraordinarily rare to bring it back,” said James Angel, associate professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
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