A group of salaried Deere & Co. retirees is trying to ward off changes in health care benefits planned by the company. The Flex Retirees Organization group, based in Moline, Ill., where Deere is headquartered, wants management to meet with a retiree committee to talk about the issue, but says it's prepared to go to court, if necessary.
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Interesting that Deere CEO Bob Lane, also on the Board of GE, is poised to decrease the standard of living for his salaried retirees, while Jeff Immelt, GE's CEO, just announced an INCREASE in pension benefits to 130,000 GE retirees. The Execuitive Suite at DE has lost their sense of reality. But their respective balance sheets are sure growing.
ReplyDeleteShareholder and company retiree William Zessar of Bettendorf, a former vice president and general counsel of the former John Deere Health Care Co., asked Mr. Lane how he could justify receiving $52.4 million in compensation in 2007 ($20.5 million in salary, benefits and bonuses, and $31.9 million in stock options) when his compensation package would cover 60 percent of the health-care benefits of all salaried retirees, their spouses and certain other employees.
ReplyDelete"The company is breaking its promise to provide comparable (health care) benefits" to those retirees who built the company, Mr. Zessar said.
Mr. Lane said the company's proxy statement explains its compensation philosophy for him, and for attracting talented members of Deere's senior management team.