The primary issue is retirement security. In 2019, Valley Ford Truck demanded and won the elimination of the traditional pension plan in favor of a 401(k) retirement savings plan. Retirement income is more secure with a pension benefit defined in the contract. With a savings account that goes up and down with Wall Street booms and crashes, there’s no way to predict how much money will be in it when a worker decides to retire.
Now, however, the company wants to terminate the 401(k) and use the money it saves to cover demands for wage increases — leaving workers with neither a pension nor savings when they retire. Cleveland area unions have made it clear that attacks on pensions are unacceptable.
Good: The 401(k) is one of neoliberalism’s crowning achievements. Its effects are breathtaking in scope.