Wanna chat pensions?
Every day, workers at many companies with cash balance plans log on to one or more of the many message boards in cyberspace and talk.
Oldmanofthemts is a Bell Atlantic Corp. employee who, like others at several of the nation's largest companies, wants to talk pensions, but uses a pseudonym.
There are message boards for workers at Bell Atlantic, SmithKline Beecham Corp., SBC Communications Inc., The Williams Co., AT&T Corp. and Ispat Inland NV, as well as IBM Corp.
To find the message boards, visit www.yahoo.com, click on clubs, and search under "pension."
Mostly they talk about strategy.
Taking a cue from the folks at Big Blue who organized a revolt in cyberspace against the company's new cash balance pension plan, employees at many of these companies are sharing information about how to file complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and pension regulators, how to get in touch with lawmakers, and how to calculate their pensions.
On Oct. 9, Oldmanofthemts said he was a 52-year-old employee in the management echelons of the company with 27 years of service who was had his pension cut between 40% and 50% after his company made the switch. "I am not a happy camper," he posted on the Yahooo message board.
After getting nowhere with the company's representatives, Oldmanofthemts said he was interested in a steering committee other employees were forming to press their case. And he said he was contacting lawmakers.
