The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Profitable IBM Freezes Pensions

Jan 16, 2006

IBM announced they will freeze employees pensions at current levels and change completely to a 401(k) plan. Those workers who have not retired by 2007 will get what they have thus far, but the rest of the money for their retirement will have to come from their 401(k).

This is a signal that the bosses want to eliminate pensions entirely, if they have it their way. IBM is a hugely profitable company. They made almost nine billion dollars in profit in 2004. Their pension plan is fully funded at 48 billion dollars.

They can’t even pretend financial hardship as the reason for this move. If they get away with this, you know the rest of the money-hungry bosses will try to take it from the rest of us.