The news for private pension plans in many American industries is going from bad to worse.

In a USA Today article published earlier this week, workers at United Air Lines expressed their fear and frustration over learning that 12,000 retirees and surviving spouses could expect reductions in their pensions and benefits; and active workers looking forward to retirement are in what the article termed "a bewildering bureaucratic limbo." A bankruptcy judge last month granted permission to United to transfer financial responsibility for its pension plans to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a government funded "insurance" group that is itself so far in debt that no one knows what benefits it will be able to "guarantee." The move effectively releases United from obligations contained in past labor contracts and leaves 123,000 retired and active employees facing the potential loss of 25% to 70% of the retirement benefits they were promised.

Meanwhile, the 180,000 workers at American Airlines recently agreed to deep concessions in pay and work rules in order to reduce that Carrier’s operating costs by more than $4 billion (yes, that’s a "b") in hopes that the move will allow the airline to meet its pension obligations to employees. The Teamsters’ huge Central States pension fund is in a similar funk, and has resorted to eliminating retiree’s insurance coverage and reducing annuities in an attempt to increase its funding ratio to avoid being transferred to PBGC, further swamping that floundering ship.

In stark contrast, Railroad Retirement has over $27 billion (yes, that’s another "b") in assets and it is growing. Thanks in large part to UTU’s leadership in improving Railroad Retirement investment strategies, railroad employees don’t have to face the kind of heartbreaking choices those in other industries are currently struggling with. As rail unions look to the future and consider potential merger partners, all of us need to remain acutely aware of the importance of protecting these retirement benefits. We should also keep these headlines in mind when railroad managers hint at tantalizing (albeit vague) early retirement offers in exchange for reduced employment levels. Somebody has to pay for those perks, and as these workers in other industries can attest, promises from management don’t always pan out.