BP Employees, Outraged by Lack of Compensation, Warn Victims

[Scuba]

http://truth-out.org/news/item/21295-bp-employees-outraged-by-lack-of-compensation

"I quit the company as 'Head of Finance for the Gulf of Mexico'," Stauffer told Truthout. "I had a sweet job, but I could no longer stand the injustice and lies at work."

Stauffer, who worked for BP in Houston, used these strong words to describe what he and at least 450 other BP America employees are outraged over - what they describe as their company reneging on their pension plans by up to 75 percent, lying about it, and actively working against them in order not to pay them retirement benefits that were promised.

...

Fritz Guenther, a BP employee and United Steelworkers Union member working in Alaska, who has worked for BP for 35 years, said he and his colleagues are "currently fighting to get back the pension plans that BP promised us in writing in 1989."

"We were openly lied to by BP managers and HR people that when we were converted to the "new" plan that it would be as good or better than the existing and industry competitive plan," Guenther told Truthout. "Now that many of us are reaching retirement age, we are finding out that we have less than 50 percent of what we would have had if BP's promise was true or if we had remained in the old plan."

Joe Barton must be so proud.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I hardly know how I feel about this..

On the one hand, if they had been paying attention, they would have known for the last few years that re-neging on pensions is common now.
On the other hand, as ripped off employees, I see them as victims.

but...I see this as some sort of justice, since they are cogs in a very very nasty machine that has ruined many many lives, not only in our Gulf, but all over the world.

and then...there is this lil headline whnich just poppd up:
Former Halliburton manager given probation for destroying evidence after 2010 Gulf oil spill - @AP

Probation!!!!!!

[KoKo]

5. Halliburton Manager got Probation for destroying evidence....

HA! I remember when that news broke and how we here on DU were thrilled that the guy might go to jail.

Should have known better. No one goes to jail unless they are too poor to afford a high priced lawyer and belong to the 1 or 2% these days.

Disgusting.

[Fawke Em]

2. Quelle surprise.

[kelliekat44]

3. Only when one is being squeezed can one recognize the pain of others. nt

[dinger130]

4. FUCK BP

That has been my mantra every since the Oil Spill. I owned a business on the Gulf for years . The oil spill did me in. After being told for months by BP to expect a check to save my business, they turned me down for no good reason. They also called the police to pay a call on me because they thought I could be suicidal. I wasn't suicidal, I was homicidal.

Hopefully, this is the year when my lawsuit will come to fruition. Just like a certain Mayor in NJ, I also kept a journal. When you're dealing with a bunch of crooks, that's the prudent thing to do.

[lpbk2713]

6. Who knew Big Oil would lie?

I'm shocked and appalled.