What MLB execs-franchise owners AREN'T stating about eliminating their defined pension plan benefits is likely that they also want to greatly reduce if not abolish their matching contributions to their "grunt" employees pension plans, which might have been added to a certain percentage of pre-tax income that each employee was individually contributing biweekly or monthly. If so, that would be very shameful and extremely selfish/greedy on MLB's part.
"No one is suggesting that pension plans are going to be eliminated," he said. "What the conversation has been about is allowing individual clubs more flexibility as to what exactly their pension plan is going to look like. Nobody is suggesting there is going to be no plan ... for anybody. The issue is in the current arrangement we essentially mandate a particular type of defined benefit pension plan. The question is whether the individual team should have more flexibility to design a program that is effective to them."
Oh yeah, suure...but Manfred forgot to include the words "more" and "cost" as in being more cost-effective FOR them...so that they can even further enrich themselves out of the pockets of the portion of the hoi-polli/great unwashed that they employ.
"The potential impact of eliminating the pension plan would affect much of the MLB family: front-office executives, trainers, minor league staff and scouts. Some of those personnel, particularly on the minor league level and in amateur scouting, make less than $40,000 a year and rely on pensions in retirement."
Flexibility: Common corporate code word/speak (along with having new "tools") for: You're on your own, suckers..so hoist your own petards!! The corporate trend towards eliminating defined benefit pension plans, or worse, just cutting off all retirement benefits including long and short term health insurance coverage w/the assistance of favorable legislation and court rulings is truly disturbing and frightening for our nation's so-called "middle-class'" financial future, IMO.
