UAW Seeks Pensions as Bargaining Chip in Tough Contract Talks (1)

On picket lines around the country, auto workers aren’t just demanding higher wages. They want to get back their once-sacred retirement pensions.

While United Auto Workers members who were hired prior to the 2008 financial crisis have pensions, those brought on since have received 401(k) plans instead. The union is demanding the auto companies provide pensions for new employees and those who currently lack them.

“We need to do something, because right now, if you came in after ’07, you don’t have a pension,” said Ryan Ashley, a Ford engine plant worker in Cleveland. “You could retire, and the economy tanks. Whereas ...