Caterpillar offering early retirement to 2,000 workers
This just in:
PEORIA, Ill., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT – News) today announced it is offering a voluntary early retirement incentive package to approximately 2,000 production employees in Illinois Caterpillar facilities (Aurora, Decatur, Joliet, Pontiac and the Peoria-area) as well as in Denver, Colorado; Memphis, Tennessee; and York, Pennsylvania.
This company-initiated incentive is being offered in accordance with Caterpillar’s Non-Contributory Pension Plan. Eligibility for this package is based on a combination of age and credited service.
The incentive plan announced today is in addition to other previously announced workforce reductions related to production employees. Consistent with previously announced plans, and depending on business conditions, more voluntary and involuntary workforce reductions may be required as the year unfolds.
Hmm. let’s see, my 401(k) is down 40 percent so, yeah, I want to retire as soon as possible to start cashing in my winnings.
…This company-initiated incentive is being offered in accordance with Caterpillar’s Non-Contributory Pension Plan…
“Non-Contributory Pension Plan” participants are pre-’94, production hires. While they can still contribute to a 401k, they also will receive a monthly pension in the range of $2300 – 2500.
Permalink | Posted February 11th, 2009, at 12:39 pmThanks for clarifying, I wondered about that.
That would be a nice little cushion, given you’d have time to do other work and you wouldn’t be stuck holding out for UAW wages. Union wages are a godsend but they’re also a trap: they rule out doing a vast array of interesting work that doesn’t pay much.
Permalink | Posted February 11th, 2009, at 12:45 pm