A Letter to Senator Clinton
by Now Working Poor

As you may know, NCR Corporation recently announced that benefit accrual for their defined pension plan will cease 12/31/2006. Pension calculations for employees will be frozen using that date. What this means to vested employees in real dollars varies depending on their age. For my family, the benefit reduction will result in a shortfall of $250-$500K over an estimated lifetime (age 85). That is a reduction of over 50% in pension income.

Pension incomes from NCR’s plan were modest without this change. Best case is about 30% of one’s pre-retirement income with 40 years of service. Freezing the pension plan is putting 10’s of thousands of NCR employees at financial risk at a time when they have no means to recover.

I suspect that you, as a leading presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, are also concerned over these developments. This very issue may in fact be raised in the campaign in that the CEO of NCR, Bill Nuti, has hosted fundraisers for you at his home in the Hamptons. Speculation may arise as to how a Democratic leader can maintain such a close relationship and receive support from business leaders who withdraw earned benefits for so many working citizens.

Law currently allows for such actions and only law will protect working Americans. Please consider a solution. Those who have dedicated their entire working lives deserve the benefits they have earned.