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On October 7, the Associated Press said that defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. will no longer provide traditional pension plans to new salaried employees. In a letter to the company's 85,000 salaried employees, Lockheed said it will contribute money to accounts for the new workers that give them the option to invest the money as they choose. However, as of Jan. 1, new hires won't be offered a pension where they receive regular payments after retirement based on years of service and salary.
"Lockheed expects to save between $125 million and $150 million on the change after it is phased in over the next several years, according to company spokesman Tom Greer... The change will not affect Lockheed's workers covered by union contracts or current employees, Greer said."
On September 29, Vought Corporation had announced health care changes to include their current non-union salaried workers. One reason they gave is that the new Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit would be better than what they had been offering. Pension plans for new-hires and those with less than 5 years' service also changed, but they said it was too complicated to explain.
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