President Donald Trump pledged his support Saturday for a $1 billion proposal to restore pensions for salaried Delphi retirees, offering renewed hope for an end to a 17-year fight affecting more than 5,100 Ohioans.
Trump’s commitment during his Oct. 3 rally followed a private meeting with retirees whose pensions were cut after the auto parts manufacturer’s 2009 bankruptcy, according to U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, who helped arrange the meeting.
The proposal still needs approval from both chambers of Congress and Trump’s signature. Turner and U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, are pushing the measure.
“It’s the first time that we’re this close,” Turner told reporters after the rally.
Turner said Husted secured pension restoration language in the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act. He said he also has a commitment on the House side to accept the Senate provision.
“The job isn’t done,” Turner said. “We’ve got a lot of work yet to do.”
For the retirees and their families, Saturday’s meeting brought a long-running fight directly to the president.
Bruce Gump, chairman of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association and a former senior engineer, said he is “absolutely hopeful” that a resolution is approaching.
But Gump said the effort extends beyond recovering lost retirement income. He wants changes to prevent other families from experiencing what Delphi retirees endured.
“We’re fighting to get the government fixed so that this can’t happen again,” he said.
U.S. Rep Mike Turner spoke during Saturday’s Trump rally in Vandalia about the 17-year fight to restore Delphi retirees’ pensions — an issue affecting more than 5,100 Ohioans.
Bryant Billing – Staff
Jacqueline Rose attended on behalf of her husband, Tom Rose, who spent 17 years working with the retirees’ association before his death in August.
“So I’m hoping that this comes to fruition,” she said.
Rose said her husband devoted many hours to the effort because restoring the pensions mattered deeply to him and the other people he wanted to help.
The pension cuts continue to affect her finances. Following her husband’s death, she began receiving a survivor pension that is smaller than the reduced benefit he had received.
“It’s deeply impacted my life,” she said.
Turner said White House staff had been in contact with him before the rally and that Trump wanted to meet salaried retirees affected by the cuts before publicly committing his support.
“The president met with them. He heard their stories, and he was impacted by it,” Turner said.
Trump then recognized the retirees during his rally speech.
“We’re going to take care of you,” he said.
Trump said Husted and Turner are working to help the retirees and that his administration would be involved fixing the “problems caused by Barack Obama’s policies.”
President Donald Trump, pictured with U.S. Sen. Jon Husted at Saturday’s rally in Vandalia, said Husted and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner are working to restore Delphi retirees’ pensions. Trump pledged his administration’s involvement, blaming the pension cuts on “problems caused by Barack Obama’s policies.”
Bryant Billing – Staff
Turner credited the retirees with sustaining the effort through years of setbacks.
“They’ve not just done it for themselves, they’ve done it for all of the retirees that were affected,” he said.
Delphi, once a major Dayton-area manufacturer with more than 10,000 local employees, surrendered its pension plans to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in 2009 during its bankruptcy proceedings.
When the federal pension insurer took responsibility for the plans, salaried retirees received substantially less than they had expected.
General Motors, which previously owned Delphi, paid the difference between the lower PBGC benefits and the pensions it had contractually promised to hourly retirees represented by the United Auto Workers. Salaried retirees did not receive the same protection.
The salaried retirees challenged the handling of their pensions in federal court, but the lawsuit ultimately failed. In January 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up their case.
Retirees also pursued a legislative remedy, although repeated efforts in Congress failed to produce a resolution.
The White House’s support for the $1 billion proposal was announced in June by Turner’s office. At the time, Husted said the effort would affect more than 5,100 Ohioans.
“It’s past time to bring justice to these families, including more than 5,100 Ohioans, and deliver to them what they were promised,” Husted said in that statement.
Speaking Saturday, Turner said the proposal would be fully paid for through money in the PBGC and would not result in deficit spending.
Trump’s public pledge adds momentum, Turner said, but lawmakers still must complete the legislative work.
“Now, with the president having made this statement, we just have to get the job done,” he said.
Tuner is running against Democratic candidate Kristina Knickerbocker for the Ohio’s 10th Congressional District. She said Saturday that Turner was “out-of-touch.”
“We have a healthcare crisis and cost of living crisis in this country,” said Knickerbocker. “We have to identify why that is and make it better, and that’s going to start with undoing so many of the things Mike Turner and Jon Husted have voted for.”