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By Doug Cunningham

The IUE-CWA says busloads of its GM retirees will picket the GM bankruptcy hearing today in New York. The retirees are angry over GM attempts to terminate their retiree health benefits, according to the union. The IUE-CWA retirees are not being treated the same as UAW retirees in the GM bankruptcy case. The United Steel Workers has joined with IUE-CWA to fight for these GM retirees, who stand to lose out in a GM asset sale. The two unions together say they have about 50,000 GM retirees and dependents who rely on healthcare and other benefits that are threatened by the GM asset sale. GM is refusing to negotiate a VEBA trust fund for these retirees as it did with UAW retirees. So the unions say if the GM assets sale gos ahead as planned the new company will have no resources left to pay any claims for USW and IUE-CWA retirees.