Albertson’s Joins Bush in Cutting Retirement Benefits of Workers

Dear President Bush,

Your Social Security plans have much in common with corporate America’s approach to pension benefits as both are being reduced. Your efforts to save Social Security impose benefit cuts for younger workers while employers are freezing pension plans, a move that results in a similar outcome. Albertson’s announced an increase of 67% in profitability for the first quarter of 2006. Nearly half of the increase will come on the back of Albertson’s employees as 8 cents per share in profits arose from “pension curtailments”.

Here is the really good news; Albertson’s executives don’t have to care as they are selling the company! It is a good thing they did the dirty work pre-acquisition. Now they can slither away with their massive gain on the sale. Any employee invective is aimed at the ex group of self serving corporate “leaders”. The new bosses don’t have that stain on them, making the whole thing wickedly Machiavellian.

You should be proud. Are you sure Karl didn’t come up with this scheme. It sounds remarkably like your health care strategy where people pay more for less care and are told it is “strengthening the doctor patient relationship”. Doctors will drop patients who cannot afford to pay their bills. How will this help “the relationship”?

Oh, I get it now. Doctors previously busy caring for marginally insured and uninsured patients will now be able to devote their newfound free time to serving the rich, well heeled, insured patients. It is clear now who’s doctor patient relationship is being strengthened, your base’s. Did Bill Clinton coach you on word parsing? It all depends on what your definition of the word is….