At a hearing June 6, the Minnesota Public Utility Commission approved the merger without responding to the retirees. We haven't given up. Getting organized The Coalition for Retirement Security helps groups mobilize to get improvements in retirement benefits. Their goals range from improving retiree pension benefits to recovering benefits they say they've been denied. While some groups are concerned about the impact of company mergers on their pensions, others are battling cash-balance pension plans imposed by their employers.
Some experts say that the pension activists are off base.
Defined benefit plans, which include cash-balance and traditional pensions, guarantee retirees a fixed lifetime benefit. We're beating up on the good guys. I think in a lot of ways it's the lack of benefits that's the problem. That is another battleground for the Pension Rights Center, Friedman says. We're fighting on two fronts.