The move is the latest in a nearly 16-year legal and legislative battle by Delphi salaried retirees seeking to be made whole.
An association of retired Delphi salaried employees sued the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in 2009 after the agency took over employee pensions in the wake of Delphi’s bankruptcy.
The relinquishment of the pensions to the PBGC left Delphi salaried retirees with greatly diminished pensions, which stung particularly because GM continued contributing to the pensions of union-represented retirees, under the guidance of the then-new administration of President Barack Obama.
That fight made its way through the federal court system until early 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear arguments that Delphi salaried retirees had been wronged.
If passed, the act would restore pensions for more than 21,000 Delphi salaried retirees, including some 5,180 in Ohio, Turner’s office said in a statement Thursday. The bill is named in honor of the late wife of a Delphi retiree.
“I have remained steadfast in my fight to restore the pensions of Delphi salaried retirees,” Turner said in a statement. “While this has been a long time coming, the strong bipartisan support gives us hope that we can finally right this wrong for those who lost their pensions.”
An effort to advance the bill failed just before Christmas 2022 when the House Rules Committee did not include the measure in a final federal omnibus spending bill.
U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Mike Braun, R-Ind., re-introduced the act in the Senate in July 2023.
Under the bill, Delphi salaried retirees would receive a lump sum payment covering the pension benefits they should have received over the past 15 years, with 6% interest added to account for the delay, Turner’s office said.
“Moving forward, the legislation would fully restore their pensions, ensuring retirees receive the payments they were originally promised, as if the disruption had never occurred,” a statement from Turner’s office said.
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