On Saturday, Kodak sent a letter to all retirees informing them that their retirement benefits (medical, dental and insurance) would be cut by a rather large amount. We kind of expected this from prior notices, but....

In any event, this decrease by them amounts to nearly 60% by my estimate, of their contribution to these plans for my wife and I and therefore requires a huge reformulation of our 2009 budget.

How nice. Since this comes from Kodak's operating costs, you can imagine how well EK is doing. Some job Antonio!

I will probably have to reduce my emulsion making and coating work next year to take this into account! IDK yet. We won't have specific numbers until October.

PE

Wow, I hope all goes well for you and your wife. That quite a cut.

No more life insurance at all, no more dental at all, and a big (yet to be determined) cost in medical. When you budget ahead in what you think is a stable situation, and prices go up, you compensate as you believe in inflation, but this is above and beyond inflation I think.

Thanks.

PE

I am so sorry to hear this.

How long did you work there?

I am so sorry to hear this.

How long did you work there?

I worked there 32 years.

PE

Wow...That's terrible.

Not as bad as what Enron did...But this reminds me of it.

:(

Very disheartening. It is very unfair to promise benefits to retirees and then pull the rug out from under them. All I can offer is financial support of your book and DVD when it hits the presses. I eagerly await it.

I worked there 32 years.

PE
This will also affect part of my family as well. My wife's father worked for EK for 33 years before retiring so I'm sure this will be very unpleasnt news for my in-laws.

Very disheartening. It is very unfair to promise benefits to retirees and then pull the rug out from under them. All I can offer is financial support of your book and DVD when it hits the presses. I eagerly await it.

I haven't heard of them. What are they about? Where can I find some info on them?

I'm sorry to hear of the change to your situation Ron. I hope somehow it all works out. Hopefully you will enjoy good health for many years to come and not be burdened by any major medical expenses.

Joe

No more life insurance at all, no more dental at all, and a big (yet to be determined) cost in medical. When you budget ahead in what you think is a stable situation, and prices go up, you compensate as you believe in inflation, but this is above and beyond inflation I think.

Thanks.

PE

And some corporations still wonder aloud why the "young" generation of employees (of which I'm a part) have no perceived loyalty to employers.

What percentage pay cut is Perez taking to help out?

Lee

Sorry to hear the bad news, Ron. A lifetime of loyalty seems to count for nothing.

Yes, really very sorry to hear that.

It's getting much the same in the UK....people have contributed voluntarily, over their working lives, into savings and pension schemes, trying to be prundent, and are now finding that the benefits are worth a fraction of what was projected, and of what they were budgeting for. The politicians couldn't care less, they have their gold-plated inflation-proof pensions (paid for by us, the taxpayers :mad: ).

Seems to me that EK is yet another organisation that just alter the rules to suit themselves and their profits as they go along. No conscience or loyalty anywhere in business these days.

That sucks, Ron. I mean that really, really sucks. You spend your whole life working for a company, only to be screwed by them when you need them. And yet... if we boycott Kodak in protest, it will only hurt you more. And if we support them, it will only make Perez & co. look like heroes, whilst rewarding their immoral behavior.
And of course, Kodak is not alone in this kind of treachery.

Sorry to here that Ron. Well if that's the way they treat ex-employees now it shows they've totally turned their back on the values of George Eastman.

Unfortunately it also shows up the flaws in the US pension system and the way company pension schemes aren't run for the benefit of employees past or present.

Ian

Ron, I wish there was something we could do that would be effective. Deregulation & permitting Companies to break their promises to employees is the current norm. All in the name of making Companies more competitive in the global market. I'm personally sick of politicians who support this - I just got laid off when my company was acquired; and ,during the golden-parachute negotiations, my stock options were made worthless.

The fact that companies are allowed to do this really ticks me off. So sorry you have to go through this.

Thanks for your support. Life goes on and is too short to worry about things like this. The DVD and book will continue, but I may include more information in it than originally planned. I was being loyal and attempting to not reveal too much. Now I care quite a bit less about what I say.

PE

What percentage pay cut is Perez taking to help out?

Lee

Perez will get a bigger bonus for reducing costs.
Standard part of a CEO contract.
The boards say they have to do this to attract 'good' people to the job...

Anyway, Ron, good luck with working out your budget. You are not alone, as many of us continue to struggle with reducing benefits and rising prices.

Bob

What a lousy way to treat their ex-employees who gave decades of their lives helping them make a profit. I am disgusted.

This is awful, sorry to hear this. They didnt deserve someone like you.
Makes me seriously consider not using any of their products anymore.

Sorry to hear that, likely a sad and new corporate trend :(

Sorry to hear this Ron. We just moved to a new apartment yesterday, and I'm only catching up on APUG now.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone out there can sign up for an emulsion making workshop!

That stinks... Really stinks...