Save Mart ending retiree health benefits (non-union management)

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storewanderer
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Save Mart ending retiree health benefits (non-union management)

Post by storewanderer »

https://www.modbee.com/news/business/bi ... 00167.html

Many companies did this long ago.
Not that it makes it right.
Promises made, promises kept? Nope.
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Re: Save Mart ending retiree health benefits (non-union management)

Post by HCal »

Private equity comes in and starts slashing costs. Nothing new here. Hopefully they don't get too carried away.

This also shows the importance of unions for employees. Without a contract, any "promise" made by a company is worth nothing.
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Re: Save Mart ending retiree health benefits (non-union management)

Post by storewanderer »

HCal wrote: May 11th, 2022, 10:36 pm Private equity comes in and starts slashing costs. Nothing new here. Hopefully they don't get too carried away.

This also shows the importance of unions for employees. Without a contract, any "promise" made by a company is worth nothing.
I was about to make that comment. Assuming the union handles the funds properly. But at least those funds are collected and invested/restricted for the purpose of making these benefit payments. When you read this article you see a lot of employees who could have stayed in a union position but opted to move up into management based on expecting to receive this benefit.

It isn't easy to provide this kind of benefit, and in some ways the writing was on the wall after changes made previously. This type of benefit can really make a balance sheet ugly when accounting rules start to require you to book a liability for future "other post employment benefit" obligations like this type of thing. There is no doubt in my mind Bob Piccinini intended to continue this benefit as promised and you see the company continued this benefit under the granddaughter who was running the company as well, but all it took was weeks of private equity ownership to cut this benefit. So it was obviously a major cost that got attention quick.

I also wonder what the various management still working there who have worked there for 20-30 years think who now will not receive this benefit when they retire. Could this be a way to clean house of long term employees who were sticking around in part to retire and receive this benefit?

When Walgreens stopped offering this benefit, they allowed retired former employees who were already on the plan to continue to receive the benefit. But for someone who had worked there the last 29 years expecting to get this benefit after year 30, they were out of luck.
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Re: Save Mart ending retiree health benefits (non-union management)

Post by veteran+ »

storewanderer wrote: May 11th, 2022, 8:52 pm https://www.modbee.com/news/business/bi ... 00167.html

Many companies did this long ago.
Not that it makes it right.
Promises made, promises kept? Nope.
So typical........................

:x
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Re: Save Mart ending retiree health benefits (non-union management)

Post by Alpha8472 »

Medicare covers some costs of Healthcare, but you do have to pay part of the cost. No one is sure if Medicare will be around in the future. The program could face termination to save costs.
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Re: Save Mart ending retiree health benefits (non-union management)

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: May 12th, 2022, 10:54 am Medicare covers some costs of Healthcare, but you do have to pay part of the cost. No one is sure if Medicare will be around in the future. The program could face termination to save costs.
In the 60's and 70's when many people received these other postemployment benefits it was a different time and era.

I think most young employees today are fully aware that promises like this are very unlikely to be kept. But for these folks who worked for Save Mart from the 80's and had 30-40 years with the company I can see how from their vantage point in the 80's and 90's trusted this benefit would be there for them.

It is a common situation but it still doesn't make it right.
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Re: Save Mart ending retiree health benefits (non-union management)

Post by storewanderer »

Looks like Save Mart wants this case gone.
https://www.law360.com/assetmanagement/ ... efits-suit

I wonder if this case would put Save Mart in a questionable light if they attempt to purchase divested stores from Kroger/Albertsons merger. This case, combined with the pharmacy closures.... combined with who knows what else...
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