Retirees thought GE would take care of them forever, but it didn't

Back in 1971, when he went to work at a General Electric Co. plant in upstate New York, John Phelps probably wasn’t naive in believing that the company would take care of him to the grave.

That was reasonable in those days, when so many jobs in the U.S. still came with generous long-term benefits. And in fact, Phelps clocked out in 2013 at age 64 with a pension, a rare thing in the 21st century.

But he feels ripped off. GE has cut retiree health-care benefits and on Dec. 7 slashed to a penny the dividend many former employees once relied on as income. He doesn’t care that GE is swimming in debt and other woes.

“GE used to promise us, ‘You’ll never have to worry about anything,’ and then they started taking things away,” said Phelps, a founder of Retirees Against GE Health Care Changes. “People are scared.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/retirees-thought-ge-would-take-care-of-them-forever-but-it-didnt/ar-BBRaqQu?li=BBnb7Kz

This is the reason I took the lump sum option when i retired from the company I worked for. Too many companies have pulled the same shit as GE.