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Thanks Obamacare? Warren Buffett Cuts Health Benefits By Over 57% At Heinz
Not satisfied with paying less taxes than his secretary, it seems Warren Buffett has decided that his employees should also pay more for their healthcare. His latest acquisition, Heinz, has recently announced a very significant cut in retiree health benefits. Of course, as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, Heinz is not admitting this is due to Obamacare but the company is not alone with 60% of employers considering changes through 2013. In an effort to cope with the uncertainty of ongoing health payments, companies have chosen (potentially smaller) lump-sum benefits, leaving the employee to fund the rest. As one reitree noted, "I feel that they should stand behind the moral obligation of the preceding owners of this company and maintain the program," but, keeping promises does not seem to be the norm these days.
Add Arnold Waldo of Carrick to the list of people disappointed with recent changes being made at the H.J. Heinz Co.
Mr. Waldo, 82, who retired from the Pittsburgh food company in 1985, received a letter in late November notifying him that Heinz was reducing its contribution to a retiree reimbursement account used to cover certain medical expenses, such as co-pays for doctor visits and health insurance premiums.
"Beginning in 2014, Heinz will contribute $1,093 per year, per household to your RRA," the letter dated Nov. 21 said.
The cut, not the first to the retiree benefit, takes the level that Heinz is contributing to the account down from $3,500 per year, Mr Waldo said.
The company confirmed that it has made changes recently, although it did not say how many people were affected.
...
"Heinz recently announced a reimbursement adjustment for a certain group of retirees in order to provide a more consistent contribution level across the vast majority of our Medicare-eligible retirees,"
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In 2010, he said, Heinz stopped providing health insurance and created the retiree reimbursement account instead. The company started with a $7,000 contribution the first year to help with the transition and then moved to the $3,500 level.
Nor is Heinz the only company to reduce retiree health benefits. Research from Towers Watson/ISCEBS released two years ago found 60 percent of employers that offered retiree medical plans were considering changes for 2012 or 2013.
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...the use of such programs has helped businesses avoid coping with swings in health insurance costs. Workers get a lump sum and then choose how to best spend it.
Waldo, who worked at the Heinz operation on the North Side for 28 years, notes, "I feel that they should stand behind the moral obligation of the preceding owners of this company and maintain the program."
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Bastards! Warren Buffett should be smacked in face...
He's a racist
Wait till he meet up with the PETK folks
People for the Ethical Treatment of Ketchup
Specially the old bruised ones gets thrown away like so much garbage after their productive time.
And Charlie Munger.
Let's all chip in a few 'Rands, sew 'em into the hem of a dry suit and have a boating accident with the arrogant little....
Nice Uncle Warren.
He's got to take from 82 yr. old retirees so he can leave his moolah to the Gates foundation.
Charity doncha know.
Philanthropist in every way.
How many billions does one make before they become greedy?
Warren... Santa says you have been naughty.
The media makes him out to be an icon. He's nothing more than another Wall Street prick.
Oh, not only an Icon!
But the Kindly Ole Grandfather and Hero of Capitalism.
Take a close fucking look at his portfolio holdings.
Many of his flagship enterprises are oligopolistic or regulated in nature.
Like the RRds.
Rates controlled by the guys you buy?
Think about it.
Banking
Insurance
All fiddliestickfuckthelittleguy ....
Goldman Sachs...
Right there tells it all
And he's been a solid bud of every administration since Noah needed diapers on the Ark.
Aaaarrrgah!
(Just tried to kick Xmas tree over but in line with our budget this year it's a cut-out stuck to the wall....)
knuck
LOL
Warren Buffet, concubine of Barak the incompetent, is the reason that the Keystone Pipeline is not going in. Too much to lose on his railroads.
when you knew he tossed in his 'vote of confidence' with goldman and bank of america, you knew damn sure he was getting his money back. and he did too. if he hadn't been promised not to lose, he would not have done it. this guy doesn't gamble. he 'invests'. get it?
It is good to be a crony-capitialist in a facist state, no?
That is the sad ass truth. This guy is a first class prick.
now he will have more $ to contribute to obama and left wing causes
A lot more don't forget about his little railroad deal
Obama Puppetmaster Warren Buffett Biggest Winner From Keystone Pipeline Rejectionhttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/obama-puppetmaster-warren-buffett-biggest-winner-keystone-pipeline-rejection
The BUFFOON was given the Presidential Medal you know he's just another connected obama crony who hides the vast majority of wealth in the gates foundation so he doesn't have to pay his fair share lol and the rest in charities for his kids to run so they don't have to either.
Funny thing is he's nothing more than a Welfare Queen of sorts himself...
Buffett’s Betrayal
snip
"A good chunk of his fortune is dependent on taxpayer largess. Were it not for government bailouts, for which Buffett lobbied hard, many of his company’s stock holdings would have been wiped out.
Berkshire Hathaway, in which Buffett owns 27 percent, according to a recent proxy filing, has more than $26 billion invested in eight financial companies that have received bailout money. The TARP at one point had nearly $100 billion invested in these companies and, according to new data released by Thomson Reuters, FDIC backs more than $130 billion of their debt.
To put that in perspective, 75 percent of the debt these companies have issued since late November has come with a federal guarantee."
in full
http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/2009/08/04/buffetts-betrayal/
Class Warfare and the Buffett Rulehttp://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203462304577138961587258988
Warren Buffett Is A Punkhttp://techcrunch.com/2012/05/12/warren-buffett-is-a-punk/
FEEL....you FEEL that they should updhold their obligations.
Feeling ain't gonna cut it.......a gun to the head.....well.
This is the new normal. Bend over......EVERYONE is getting screwed in the Great 30 Year Deleveraging.
All anybody needs to know about Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway is that in all probability most of DC -at that means yours and mine "elected representatives" and their "staffers" owns most of the stock.
"legislate and reap" ...rinse repeat
You NAILED it Doc, or rather you sutured it just great
Sorry old SOB, if anyone can afford this it's Buffet.He is one foot in the grave NOW, why the hell do these SO called philanthrophists do this to regular Americans.
GREED.
Companies have been wanting to rid themselves of this cost for a long time. No surprise at all really.
Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway funds a lifetime supply of diapers for Buffett and Charlie Munger.
lifetime supply of diapers???
Depends...
When does it ever stop. Assholes
It stops when you stop buying the shit they're selling!
GOT IT?
I feel like you are trying to get a message across. I don't understand it. But I will read it a few more times and see if I can connect the dots.
Keep tryin Fonz, I know it's difficult.
Oh my....
merry christmas Knuks!
Merry Christmas and Blessing for the New Year, Fonz
Gee fonz, you're so smart. Are you a college-educated expert?
warren buffet is a cunt who has given scrooge a good name.
Obama's Uncle Warren getting with the program.
Corporate Fascism writ large...
I had a thought and I'd like to get everyone's opinion. I'd like to start a website...maybe called shortstop.com. We would use crowd sourcing to form mobs of people who would be willing to short the stock of a company that does something like this. If you got 100,000 people to short 10 shares I would imagine Heinz might pay attention to what you have to say. If it works, everyone covers the shorts and makes money.....if it doesnt work you might lose a few bucks for a good cause.
Whaddaya 'all think?
Maybe ask Bill Ackman to manage this trade for you.
Interesting. But I believe that would be illegal.
Sue me.
I bought a silver eagle and JPM is still standing. I'll pass thanks.
You obviously don't know what ten shares of Berkshire costs.
$117 for the B shares
And a Merry Freaking Christmas to all the little peons being fucked over by the Banks and Corporate Scrooges. Wait till you see what we got planned for you next year!
FUCK the Kleptocracy!
These people are retirees. No offense but this guy has been hooked up. Those days are over. As someone who is self employed I don't have much empathy for these people. The only question is when will the wild eyed gaze of all of the private workers turn towards the federal workers perks and rip them to shreds? Only once that happens do we stand a tiny chance of turning our collective eyes towards the perks these politicians have granted themselves. Then maybe the fun will begin. But I doubt it.
Fonz- You are wrong on this one. This guy worked and built up Heinz while employed. In exchange, heinz promised (contracted) these future benefits in lieu of immediate pay. Now, years later, they are whelching on their agreed deal. Ownership/management can change and have zero regard for those who built what they take over. Morally and legally, they should honor their commitments. I am in my mid 50's and this a bit closer to home for me as I watch the organization that I helped build fall under a new management that seems to have little regard or respect for those that built it. Anyway, Merry Christmas!
I totally understand your point, and i'm sorry to be such a cynic. As a gen X'er the idea of having a company chip in for me in retirement is so foreign I can't imagine what a millenial would think of it. So this guy will have a hard time getting sympathy from me, whether he deserves it or not is another story.
my main point is that the private sector is being obliterated. no one is standing up for them. the public sector thinks they have it different. When their time comes they will find out otherwise, and no one will stand up for them. this is all by design, and it's working splendidly for the 1%
...& Baskin Robbins cuts benefits by 31% ;)
Video - Boys Like Girls and Baskins and Robbins 31 Flavors!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R3iBmLAtwg
Dunkin' Brands (Baskin Robbins) was part of Allied Domecq until its purchase in 2006 by a group of private equity firms - Bain Capital, Thomas Lee, and The Carlyle Group
Again, private equity and hedge funds now own most major brands. Stop buying their SHIT and give it back to THEM 31 different ways!
Scratch buying anything from this once American icon from my list!
The point of the next great crash is exactly that -- consolidation. Cartel. Monopoly. Control.
First you run up the market selling, vaccuuming up muppet cash BTATFH, crash it, then buy it all back for pennies on the dollar. Rinse and repeat... same as it ever was.
The difference this time? Consolidation is almost complete...
"It doesn't matter who we are, what matters now is our plan" - Bain
Same Bain?
I'm sure it's Mitt's a shit Bain, as in Bain Capital. My bigger beef is the Carlyle Group.
Warren knows that labor and pension costs make American workers non-competitive in a global economy. The US has borrowed its future to sustain the image but reality will come to roost. Most of the American workers no longer have any advantage over the rest of the world that warrants either higher current salaries or generous retirement benefits.
"Warren knows that labor and pension costs make American workers non-competitive"
You are correct but he knows that Canadian workers are even less competitive and has axed the Hienz plant in Lemington Ontario. 750 jobs down the shitter.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/heinz-to-close-ontario...
People gettin axed all around.
I wonder if the new Heinz CEO (ex BurgerKing CEO) was part of the plan or just any other decision.
Really! Hey dickwad it's a fucking FOOD company. These are the people that EAT their FUCKING food at their rediculous prices that they can charge in America because of our standard of living which supports the fucking margins and cash flow that made it possible for WB to buy the fucking comnpany. You really think the people on this site don't understand how private equity works.
I think reediculous has a double "E"
hey tedstr. it's NOT A FUCKING FOOD COMPANY! it's a fucking poison company. they sell high fructose corn syrup. that's why buffett bought the company, they produce crap that costs nothing to make and people are addicted to it and pay lots of money for something they don't need. just STOP buying their products. personally, ketchup, mayonaisse, fast food, fries, chips, candy don't exist for me anymore. for years. it's easy. and now, we export this crap and the rest of the world 'ketchs-up' with diabetes and obesity and stupidity and cancer and all the rest. stupidity sorrily, being the worst of it.
Time fror woar, then...
Hey, Buffett! You and your BOY TOY Munger might not UNDERSTAND GOLD, but you sure understand THE GOLDEN SHAFT!
Asshole!
I'm gonna shout here so bear with me. Hopefully people will actually get the message.
STOP BUYING THE MULTINATIONALS PRODUCTS!!!
Buy generic, make your own, do without. Your only tool now to fight the system is voting with your wallet.
/EOM
i'm guessing how difficult it can be in large parts of america, but even when i visit my retired parents in the deep south, with work, it's possible. do transactions with entities that have one cash register. (maybe two). that's it. don't shop global, don't buy on line global, buy american made. don't eat global. they haven't completely done away with family owned business yet. but that's the plan. and the more YOU shop spend global, the sooner you are out of work and hungry. SUPPORT our neighbors and fellow citizens.
It won't work... these companies will be supported by tax payer dollars if they start to fail. The government is / will take from your wallet to support them... the problem will take more than voting with your wallet to solve...
This has nothing to do with Buffett. This is Lehman's management team cutting costs - that's what they do. Will probsbly happen at Budweiser too.
Suck it up suckers!
Signed,
Charlie
ps - wonder how much waldo gets a month?
A list of BH companies. Stop buying anything possible from them:
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/subs/sublinks.html
Klink
You can't. Get it? Oligopoly.
Kind of like saying, "hey, let's boycott Federal Reserve Notes!"
You (anyone) may not be able to entirely but one HAS TO MAKE AN EFFORT to try. If even a marginal percentage (20%) were able to do it, they'd (the conglomerates) would be freaking out. It's not just about fighting the Oligopoly, it's about slowing down the system/eCONomy enough to get the attention of those fucksticks, both corporate and political.
Next step, STOP VOTING FOR THE INCUMBENT!! Turn over the criminals (politicians) enough times and the fucksticks (corporations) lose their hold on the system.
In a word.....FIGHT!
I humbly suggest that if 3% of all acctholders demand cash out of their bank accts, they'd suck up every physically available dollar there was in the US. So sometimes a relatively few people can make a difference.
Of course there's every effort by certain parties to push "Resistance is futile" into your head, but the true humanity is to do the right thing and not succumb regardless of odds (difficult tho that may be).
Damn, that Hunt's ketchup is good!
Or wait...do I need to buy Kroger?
Just not Heinz.
Fuck Buffet.
And Kerry.
@ a couple of the posters above, I don't take such a defeatist attitude. If everyone just did a little against the current system, it's cumulative. Die on your feet or live on your knees. I know which I choose!
Just takes a little more effort but apparently much better than you can buy in the store.
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Heinz-Ketchup-Recipe.html
As for Hunts corporation, it's currently owned by ConAgra.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt%27s
Why don't we just get rid of all workers, have machines do it and live off the largesse via gubamint programs..
Er...
What? Whaddya mean it's not a new idea?
Huh?
Warren Buffet is a terrorist. If he's not under surveillance, put him under surveillance.
"Moral obligation"? In the USA? That was funny.
Heinz 57 cut, how F Poetic, The transformation of USA into Northern Brazil is almost complete. There is a class action lawsuit here somewhere, just need the right judge.
Mr Waldo, 82, can get his ass on Medicare like everyone else.
Welcome to communism bitchez. Now pay up so Mr Waldo can have a warm hand touch his shoulder once a month.
This guy is 82 and has been retired for 28 years and he's complaining! He ought to be down on his knees thanking Heinz for making it possible for a ketchup technician to retire at 54 not bitching about them having to cut his benefits.
I'm surprised more people don't notice that aspect.
That's because nobody reads the fucking articles, Fonz!
Jeeez....
Merry Christmas!
Christ, I moved to the South so I don't haz to reed anyMOAR!
I just got a mental picture of his colostomy bag looking like a Ketchup Squeeze bottle....
Perhaps he got whacked in an earlier round of layoffs, but that's not the point. Company made a promise they are renegging on. Silly me I thought that still mattered.
Capitalism's sacred documents (contracts) found to be profane? Do tell...
Cheer up. I understand free "Lubrizol" comes with the cut.
1) Never count on your employee benefits continuing forever. The company can be sold, new management brought in, and employee benefits slashed. Always have a Plan B in case your pension and/or health insurance benefits vaporize.
2) Never count on inheriting money from your parents or others. They can get sick and run up astronomical medical bills and/or longterm care expenses. Their investments can go pear-shaped. Always have a Plan B in case your anticipated inheritance vaporizes.
3) Never count on your 401K stock portfolio gaining value. Stocks and bonds fluctuate in value. Always have a Plan B in case your retirement investments vaporize.
4) Never count on your home value going up. Neighborhoods go to shit, taste in housing changes, ability to purchse fluctuates. Always have a Plan B in case your home equity vaporizes.
5) Never count on your future wages/salary going up. You could lose your job tomorrow. Always have a Plan B in case your earned income vaporizes.
6) Never count on your promised future Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid benefits to carry you in retirement. These programs are aging Ponzi schemes and the juice has already been sucked out. SS and Medicare payroll taxes are no longer fat sources of revenue for politicians to loot; in fact, they no longer even cover outflows. Always have a Plan B in case your retirement entitlements vaporize.
7) I'll stop now. Too Grinch-like. Merry Christmas, fellow ZHers!
Everyone thinks that old cocksukker Buffet is just like "grandpa" - this money grubbing whore will step on baby's throats for a buck.
He'll contribute his health-plan savings lucre to the HILLARY 2016 campaign. He knows he'll get a 1,000,000:1 return on that "investment".
Someday someone with a brain will figure out how much money Butthole Buffet and and that sidekick Nazi Munger "syphoned" off from 401(k)s and the like. It will be astonishing to say the least.
I have to say I agree with with Sinclair: Get the FUCK out of the system!! take what you have in you private retirement and run!! Look at:
CNBC, Buffett, Blankfein, Dimon, Corzine ........ Do you think you really stand a chance of "making money"? Do you think they will let you when all that "cream" is just floating on top?
One last note: If you knew anyone from the Great Depression era then you know NOT ONE OF THEM trusted banks. They carried that idealism forward to their graves! When the real collapse finally comes the one idealism I can guarantee you that will be carried forward will be "NEVER PUT A FUCKING DIME INTO STAWKS!!!!!!". If you can't see W.st. is PONZI, benefitting the few, stop coming to ZH and superglue your TV to CNBC.
If it weren't for my successful lawsuit against Heinz (bruised palm from repeatedly smacking the bottom of the Ketchup bottle = $627,000), I'd be outraged by this development.
I got a bruised palm, too.
Say, is it practial to sue myself?
Hmmmm....
Practical? Sure! Just find yourself a schizophrenic, Pro bono attorney to represent both sides.
And just think,I used to want to work for a company that gave out pensions and retiree health care benefits. HAHAHAH
Go back and review the speeches Obama gave when he first ran for the Presidency. He repeatedly stated these words to criticise the Bush Government's affect on the life of the average American, “You’re on your own”.
Today these words ring true more than ever. That’s not testimony to return to Republican government of the G.W. Bush ilk. It’s simply a statement of fact in critical areas which really count (like healthcare) that neither Republican Government, nor Democratic Government, nor Corporations, nor Charity Organizations are able to improve on to any significant degree.
Believe Obama, you're on your own. Now what?
If that's the deal he signed off on then that's the deal. Fuck changing goalposts!
If you are a criminal organisation and require short term cover call uncle warren.
don't forget that Theresa Heinz is married to the amazing philanthropist John Kerry. Pretty sure they are using the saving to pay the tax on the yacht.... wait....
Why are we pretending that private businesses have a moral obligation to stick to their promise and yet it's OK for the government to change the rules used to sell healthcare those same private businesses must buy?
It's a case of misplaced anger.
Who doesn't like this can go work for the government - the last large employer that will hit the wall.
The employees should be glad that buffett, is the new owner. In the past new owners pulled out all the cash, stripped most of the assets, borrowed money from its pension funds and then filed for bankruptcy dumping the pension costs on the government guarantee agency. Their partners then buy what they could not steal out of bankruptcy and dump the former employees because it is now a different company so they have a low cost operation that can show some promise after a couple of years so they IPO the whole deal.
Fuck that greedy old piece of crony capitalist hyena shit Warren Buffet.
Would someone please hang that fucker from a tree, and his children with him?
That sounds good, even today.
As an IBM retiree who has seen exactly the same thing, I can empathize. Implied promises to employees are no longer implied.
IBM didn't just violate implied promises, the violated expressed contractual ones via the corrupt court system.
Arm the seniors
If this were some government worker getting his pension cut most of the ZH crew would have an orgasm. This ain't your father's America.
Yep, I jizzed in my pants at the thought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLnWf1sQkjY