Administration May 5, 2009

Non-Union Chrysler Retirees Seek Voice in Bankruptcy

May 5, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A group of Chrysler retirees has hired a Chicago law firm to represent non-union members as the carmaker moves through U.S. Bankruptcy Court reorganization in New York.
Reported by

A news account on autochannel.com said The National Chrysler Retirement Organization (NCRO) has retained the Chicago law firm of Stahl Cowen Crowley Addis LLC that is expected to field a team headed by attorney Trent Cornell. A ccording to the news report, Cornell will ask the Bankruptcy Court this week to form a Retiree Committee under Section 1114 of the bankruptcy code that it says gives non-union retirees a voice in a bankruptcy.

itxtvisited=”1″> “There are nearly 16,000 salaried retirees of Chrysler and their families who are dependent on the health care and pension benefits they earned,” said NCRO President Chuck Austin, in the news report. “Salaried retirees at Chrysler are caught between a rock and a hard place, On one hand, in bankruptcy Chrysler will seek to cut off every liability that it can. On the other, the United Auto Worker-represented retirees have protection and government support that salaried retirees don’t have. Our goal is to assure balanced and even treatment for all retirees.”

itxtvisited=”1″> According to the group, Chrysler salaried employees in 2009 paid an average one-third of their total health care bill (including premiums and out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and co-insurance).

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