05-07-2009, 10:22 PM
Unemployment Issues
Members who were laid-off and received eight hours pay for Good Friday and didn’t claim it when they call MARVIN should come and see me or the Benefit Reps. We will write a letter to inform the U n e m p l o y m e n t Office that there was a mistake, so they can set up restitution. Those who retired April 1st will want to take note. When people called MARVIN for the week ending April 4th, they signaled that they started drawing a pension. This triggered a letter from the Unemployment Office to the individual, with 4 to 8 questions. If you received one of these letters, you can answer the questions yourself, but if you need help, please bring it in and we’ll help answer them. Some people who retired April 1st are still having problems trying to get notification from the Unemployment Office for the week ending April 4th, which is needed to try to get SUB-pay for March 30th and 31st. If you called MARVIN for the week of April 4, 2009, don’t worry about any notification from the Unemployment Office, just come on in and see a Benefit Rep., who will file a manual SUB-form to get you paid for March 30th and 31st. Our members have discovered there is no longer a paper trail at the Unemployment Offices. There are debit cards and automatic deposit, and neither have receipts. If you have not yet created a MARVIN account for yourself online, you need to do it at http://www.Michigan.gov/uia halfway down the page, click on MARVIN Online. Follow the directions for a new user. If anyone has problems, call the Unemployment Help Line at 1-866-845-0077. The live operators out of Detroit have been easy to reach lately.
Watching and Waiting
Shortly, we will find out the fate of Chrysler workers. A month later, we will learn the fate of our pensions and other benefits. There has been a lot of speculation in the news about what will happen to our pensions and benefits in the event of a bankruptcy.
The last week of April, GM’ s new CEO, Fritz Henderson, held a press conference. He announced GM will ditch Pontiac, and he outlined all the talks with the union, bondholders and dealers with the Obama administration aiding in negotiations. He listed numbers of dealerships that would be reduced, and other information. They have been working very hard to meet the Obama administration’s deadline of June 1. A reporter asked Henderson, “With all the work you have done, are you closer or farther away from bankruptcy than you were last month?” Henderson said we are much closer to bankruptcy now. Another reporter asked, “How could that be with all the work you’ve just reported?” Henderson answered, “Bondholders.” It turns out many GM bondholders may have credit default swaps on the bonds. A credit default swap is basically an insurance policy that can be purchased when GM bonds are bought. It protects the investor in case GM defaults on the bonds. A reporter asked Henderson if he knew how many bondholders have credit default swaps. Henderson said there is no way for GM to know, but he knew some bondholders have them. So the last offer GM offered the bondholders was 10-17 percent of the value of the bond in GM stock. This offer was a lot less than the previous month’s offer, which the bondholders also declined.
So the question is, how many bondholders have credit default swaps? That could determine whether GM files for bankruptcy. The bondholders will refuse the GM offers because they can get a better deal by collecting the money off the credit default swap. That would force GM into bankruptcy.
If You Need Assistance
The days I am in the office can change weekly, so if you need assistance, call to find out when I will be in each week. The number is (810) 238-1616, ext. 15.
Members who were laid-off and received eight hours pay for Good Friday and didn’t claim it when they call MARVIN should come and see me or the Benefit Reps. We will write a letter to inform the U n e m p l o y m e n t Office that there was a mistake, so they can set up restitution. Those who retired April 1st will want to take note. When people called MARVIN for the week ending April 4th, they signaled that they started drawing a pension. This triggered a letter from the Unemployment Office to the individual, with 4 to 8 questions. If you received one of these letters, you can answer the questions yourself, but if you need help, please bring it in and we’ll help answer them. Some people who retired April 1st are still having problems trying to get notification from the Unemployment Office for the week ending April 4th, which is needed to try to get SUB-pay for March 30th and 31st. If you called MARVIN for the week of April 4, 2009, don’t worry about any notification from the Unemployment Office, just come on in and see a Benefit Rep., who will file a manual SUB-form to get you paid for March 30th and 31st. Our members have discovered there is no longer a paper trail at the Unemployment Offices. There are debit cards and automatic deposit, and neither have receipts. If you have not yet created a MARVIN account for yourself online, you need to do it at http://www.Michigan.gov/uia halfway down the page, click on MARVIN Online. Follow the directions for a new user. If anyone has problems, call the Unemployment Help Line at 1-866-845-0077. The live operators out of Detroit have been easy to reach lately.
Watching and Waiting
Shortly, we will find out the fate of Chrysler workers. A month later, we will learn the fate of our pensions and other benefits. There has been a lot of speculation in the news about what will happen to our pensions and benefits in the event of a bankruptcy.
The last week of April, GM’ s new CEO, Fritz Henderson, held a press conference. He announced GM will ditch Pontiac, and he outlined all the talks with the union, bondholders and dealers with the Obama administration aiding in negotiations. He listed numbers of dealerships that would be reduced, and other information. They have been working very hard to meet the Obama administration’s deadline of June 1. A reporter asked Henderson, “With all the work you have done, are you closer or farther away from bankruptcy than you were last month?” Henderson said we are much closer to bankruptcy now. Another reporter asked, “How could that be with all the work you’ve just reported?” Henderson answered, “Bondholders.” It turns out many GM bondholders may have credit default swaps on the bonds. A credit default swap is basically an insurance policy that can be purchased when GM bonds are bought. It protects the investor in case GM defaults on the bonds. A reporter asked Henderson if he knew how many bondholders have credit default swaps. Henderson said there is no way for GM to know, but he knew some bondholders have them. So the last offer GM offered the bondholders was 10-17 percent of the value of the bond in GM stock. This offer was a lot less than the previous month’s offer, which the bondholders also declined.
So the question is, how many bondholders have credit default swaps? That could determine whether GM files for bankruptcy. The bondholders will refuse the GM offers because they can get a better deal by collecting the money off the credit default swap. That would force GM into bankruptcy.
If You Need Assistance
The days I am in the office can change weekly, so if you need assistance, call to find out when I will be in each week. The number is (810) 238-1616, ext. 15.