Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - September 25, 2007)
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to support this Nations' workers, who deserve better treatment than they currently experience when their employers fail them.
We all remember what happened with Enron. Thousands of workers toiled over decades to slowly build up good, solid companies of which they could be proud. Then, in just a few short years, these companies were bought up by a conglomerate and run into the ground.
Enron went bankrupt and, just like that, the workers and retirees who spent their lives building something lost their jobs, their benefits, and most of their pensions. Our bankruptcy system helped facilitate that loss.
It is not just Enron. Workers and retirees are always near the back of the line when their companies go into bankruptcy. Some firms have gone into bankruptcy at least in part because companies can walk away forever from some of their obligations to their employees.
Today I am introducing the Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act, along with Senators KENNEDY and FEINGOLD. I am pleased that Chairman CONYERS of the House Judiciary Committee will be introducing the House companion.
The Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act will increase the value of worker claims in bankruptcy. The bill doubles the maximum value of wage claims for each worker to $20,000; allows a second claim of up to $20,000 for benefits earned; eliminates the requirement that employees earn wage and benefit claims within 180 days of the bankruptcy filing; creates a new priority claim for the loss in value of workers' pensions; and establishes a new priority administrative expense for workers' collective severance pay.
The bill also will reduce the loss of wages and benefits. It protects the value of collective bargaining agreements by limiting the situations in which they can be rejected and by tightening the criteria by which they can be amended. It also protects retiree benefits and ensures that bidders for assets of the bankrupt company that promise to honor back wages, vacation time, and other benefits are considered favorably.
Finally, the bill will increase the parity of worker and executive claims. For example, the bill prohibits deferred executive compensation in situations where employee compensation plans have been terminated in bankruptcy.
No longer will executives and insiders be able to pay themselves huge bonuses in the midst of slashing payroll and benefit costs.
No longer will consultants receive huge fees while retirees are losing most of their pensions.
No longer will companies be able to sell off all of the assets that make the company worthwhile, and yet refuse to use those proceeds to support the workers who have lost their livelihoods.
I am proud to introduce this legislation with Senators KENNEDY and FEINGOLD, and I thank the AFL-CIO and all of its workers for their wholehearted support.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.
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