As Millions of Workers Face Pension Cuts Thanks to Wall Street Greed, Executive Benefits Remain Lavish

The big bank executives who gambled away working Americans' benefits are still getting lavish packages as the social safety net collapses.

By Jake Johnson

In October of 2008, while the economy was in the early stages of what the IMF called "the worst recession since World War II," the Washington Post reported that the "stock market's prolonged tumble has wiped out about $2 trillion in Americans' retirement savings in the past 15 months, a blow that could force workers to stay on the job longer than planned."

Thanks, in other words, to Wall Street's reckless and criminal behavior, workers who were promised a secure retirement were cheated out of the benefits they worked hard — for decades — to attain.

Which brings us to 2016: Just over a week ago, the Washington Post reported (déjà vu?), "More than a quarter of a million active and retired truckers and their families could soon see their pension benefits severely cut — even though their pension fund is still years away from running out of money."