Thread regarding 3M layoffs

Also, if you get cut before age 55, you lose those retiree medical dollars. More money for paying settlements, I guess…

More for Moe,

Thanks for the detailed response.

Fortunately this knucklehead had a good boss and 2nd level leader and even 3rd level leader (which used to be so common in 3M pre Mcnerney) and somehow got to retire at 58 and 93 points or whatever they called it.

Extremely sad that the M&M knuckleheads decided to go full GE and cut so many loyal employees just shy of the magical numbers.

This company, minus the HC spin which I suspect will be successful sans 3M leadership, is destined for Chapter 11.

Even activist investors like Nelson Peltz and Daniel Loeb who decimated Dupont and Dow with massive restructuring and layoffs won't lift a finger to invest in broken remain-co. Inge tried his 3 card monte Ala stooges style to boost the share price to 250 with massive debt to save his butt.

Sad to say but the finger pokes to so many loyalists will not be forgotten in the lovely Twin Cities.

Knucklehead, you sound like a fun coworker. 1. I can’t speak for pension plan 2 but for plan 1, getting canned before age 55 is HUGE. If revolves around the value of plan 1 increasing in a big way when you hit age 55; and qualifies you to start collecting that pension at 55. If you get canned before age 55, 3M takes full control of your greatly reduced pension value and doles it out to in in a minuscule amount at age 65.

2. 90 or 92: This is the combo of age and years service that qualifies you to get a bridge amount of $800 per month to supplement your pension until you reach Social Security age of 62.

2a. Retiree medical is a whole separate deal. It used to be a 3M backed plan that was handed to you on a platter no matter your age, from 55 to 65, before entering Medicare. It evolved to a pot of money handed you in a Retiree Medical Savings Account. The later you retire, the more you are handed at retirement to bd used for open market health care. Currently there seems to be enough in that account to cover you in pre Medicare health insurance.

3. Pension max. When your pension value reaches its maximum growth potential.

The basic language among plan 1 folks is:

1. Are you 55? (That’s a big one).
2. Have you reached your bridge combo?
3. Have you reached you pension max?

Bottom line, there are maximum savings for 3M by canning plan 1 employees before age 55. It has happened to many people who are understandably livid about losing huge value in that benefit after all of their years of contributions.

Can someone remind the rest of us knuckleheads (said affectionately) what tactics 3M has used to save more than a few bucks at the expense of loyal long-timers.

My recollections:

1. Getting canned prior to 55 is a big deal..what is the impact. I recall someone being told to can a 53 and 54 year old and weren't given the choice if they wanted to have someone else younger or older take their place.

2. Something about 90 or 92 number or points. Age plus years of service and retiree medical?

3. Anything else?

Even Moe Hailstone would not approve of these terminations. It's like getting poked in the eyes after loyal service.

Happy Friday. Nyuk nyuk

Did I miss the age discrimination lawsuit ? I was a fatality of 3M age discrimination.

When is the fire sale?

Age discrimination is a major issue at 3M today. There are 2 new US age discrimination lawsuits in the last 12 months. There have been countless more that have been intercepted by leadership, hr and ethics. When you turn 50, you will be a JE target. Just get your work done, do more than expected and hope.

The 401(K) is a Ponsi scheme, rigged against workers.

Ugh.

There are plenty of things wrong with 3M but right here, this is not ago discrimination.

That 6 sigma discrimination lawsuit took almost a decade to resolve and 3M ultimately paid only $3 million and there were like 300 people in the class action suit. Do the math. A lot of time and effort for very little in the end. And that's before the lawyers took their cut.

Whether this is age discrimination depends on the reason for eliminating the benefit. For discrimination you need strong evidence.
When 3M is doing something wrong, be sure to collect documents, record conversations, and take good notes. Even when presented with proof, 3M will look you straight in the eye and say it never happened. This will be your experience with leadership, HR and ethics line. Report unethical and illegal behavior to media, government officials or get a good attorney. 3M is not trustworthy.

Eliminating pension contributions is not age discrimination. Pension is a benefit, not a requirement. Most companies no longer have pensions.

Mcnerney amazing made perhaps over 100 million destroying the culture and futures of two iconic American companies.

Everything about GE should be scrubbed from business history.

Give me Desi any day over what has transpired, although Sir Buckley was decent, minus his Japan escapades.

Larry Fine would have been a better choice to replace Mcnerney, and he could have played his fiddle to commiserate 3Mers as the empire burned to the ground

Pension freeze is just revisiting a familiar GE strategy to reduce costs. Pension action has Jim McNerney's signature all over it. GE playbook.

3M may settle age bias suit for $12 million
https://www.startribune.com/3m-may-settle-age-bias-suit-for-12-million/118246714/

I remember this Whitaker lawsuit. 6 to 7 thousand old timers were job eliminated. There were actually 2 or 3 age discrimination cases. At least one was elevated to a class action. Very clear what was going on. Corporate left my VPs office with his visuals. There were presentations that said do not bother applying for black belt positions if you are over 40.

History repeats. If someone has emails, statements from leaders, or have recordings of incriminating discussions - then this would be a live case.

A common 3M practice is age discrimination. 3M was caught documenting their agesim and age discrimination in a prior lawsuit and now knows how to execute the strategy without leaving a documentation trail. 3M settled with admitting no wrong doing, much like the PFAS and ear plug settlements. Even as unethical as 3M has become, the facts in this 5 year case will surprise you.
https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/3m-pay-3-million-settle-eeoc-age-discrimination-suit