Sugar Workers Claim Stock Plan Was A Cheat

New York Times:

Thousands of workers at U.S. Sugar thought they were getting a good deal when the company shelved their pension plan and gave them stock for their retirement instead. They had a heady sense of controlling their own destiny as they became the company's biggest shareholders, Vic McCorvey, a former farm manager there, said.

"It was always stressed to me, as manager of that 20,000-acre farm, that the better you do, the higher your stock will be and the more retirement you could get," Mr. McCorvey said. "That's why I worked six and seven days a week, 14 hours a day," slogging through wet and buggy cane fields, doing whatever it took.

Now that many U.S. Sugar workers are reaching retirement age, though, the company has been cashing them out of the retirement plan at a much lower price than they could have received. Unknown to them, an outside investor was offering to buy the company -- and their shares -- for far more. Long-time employees say they have lost out on tens of thousands of dollars each and millions of dollars as a group, while insiders of the company came out ahead.

Some former U.S. Sugar employees have since filed a lawsuit accusing company insiders of cheating them out of money due to them. Throughout, the worker-owners have been shut out of information about the company's finances and unable to challenge management's moves or vote because their shares are held through a retirement plan, not directly.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Mike169]

Quick privatize Social Security!

[WIpatriot]

Where's that damned Repub troll that was spouting off about no company ever cheated workers out of their pension plan with stock fraud (and said Enron was the employees' fault for not diversifying) when you want to rub his nose in it??

[vippy]

Whatever happened to the law that prevents from anyone touching the retirement accounts. Then I remember Sec. Snow in December 05 when he told Bush that he found more money in the
Federal Employees' Retirement Account. Of course, it all went out the window with this Iraq War.
But please, remember to fire all of congress/senate the next election. They do not represent the
people who put them in office.

[Mike169]

I think you're referring to ERISA. Consider the Republican push to destroy Social Security and you'll have a pretty good idea of protecting pensions. The defined benefit plans that companies pay into as a benefit to their employees aren't safe anymore as employers failed, over the years to fund the plans as they were required. Also companies that went bankrupt failed to pass along the pension liabilities to the successor companies. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Trust which assumes failed pension plans on behalf of workers does not provide the full pension that a worker might have gotten had a company fully funded a plan. This has led to a mess for retirees who expected one thing and got quite another.
So even in the world of defined benefit plans employers have been able to shed their responsibilty to their employees.

Under 401(k) plans employer have just about no responsibility. Generally these plans are offered so employees who have a defined benefit plan (which are a liability to an employer) will abandon them. The keynote of the Bush presidency has been to try and convince workers 401 (k) plans are better. Yes they are better - better for companies who benefit from private investment. As Enron has shown the responsibility of corporation ends in bakruptcy court where, at the bottom of the barrel when the bankruptcy courts are picking over the carcass of the company, are the workers. Welcome to America!

[dadw5boys]

BUSH LOWERED THE MINIUM AMOUNT TO FUND RETIREMENT FUNDS TOO!!

WAIT TILL THOUSANDS GO TO RETIRE AND THER MONEY IS NOT THERE THE COMPANY SHUTS DOWN, REOPENS WITH A NEW NAME IN 24 HOURS AND FORGETS THEM.

[truthyguy]

Pollute the waters and cheat the employees. Big Sugar profits again.

[JoeBlough]

This is your typical defined Republican retirement plan. Both McCain and Phil Gramm are the architects. It's designed to secure corporate profits at the expense of the employee. If McCain is President, you will see a lot more of this.

[vandegrasse]

How DID Tommy get out of that Polar Bear?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5hx-zb-QsEw

[Podewumun]

This makes my blood boil.

[topper2t]

Sounds like one of those Republican deals tome.