By Thomas Gnau, Dayton Daily News ~ Sep 14, 2010

A New York congressman has said an independent investigation will look into the federal government’s treatment of Delphi retirees’ pensions.

U.S. Rep. Chris Lee, D-N.Y., has posted a letter on his web site from Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, saying Barofsky will audit whether salaried retirees were treated differently than union or hourly retirees and whether the TARP program or the Obama administration pressured GM to “top off” the pensions of hourly retirees.

Last year, then-bankrupt Delphi released its pension obligations to the federally backed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. That has meant large cuts to the pensions of both salaried and hourly retirees.

However, General Motors — of which Delphi was once a part — never offered contractually to make salaried pensions whole if they were transferred to the PBGC. Hourly retirees did receive that contractual support.

Hundreds of salaried Delphi retirees in the Dayton area — many of whom spent the bulk of their careers working not for Delphi, but for GM — stand to lose the bulk or a high percentage of their pensions because of the PBGC takeover.

“This is great news,” said Den Black, a Piqua native and head of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association, which represents the interests of that group of retirees.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or [email protected].