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The Markets February 27, 2009
U.S. Steel Announces Match Suspension
U.S. Steel Corp. announced it has suspended company match contributions for its two New York-based 401(k) plans effective January 1.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
Workforce Management reported that company spokesman John Armstrong said the company was matching 100% of employees’ contributions up to 5% of pay.
The news report said U.S. Steel’s board of directors has, however, authorized additional, voluntary contributions of up to $300 million to its pension and health care trusts by 2010.
Other Match Suspensions
The firm is the latest of several to suspend their 2009 matching contributions, including Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (see “Coca-Cola Bottling Caps Match“), Sears (see “Sears Suspends 401(k) Match, Drops 1,100 Jobs’), TheDenver Post (see “Denver Post Latest to Suspend 401(k) Match’), Unisys (see “Unisys Cuts 401(k) Match’), Starbucks (see “Starbucks 401(k) Match Goes Discretionary’), Motorola (see “Motorola Freezes Pension, Suspends 401(k) Match’), Eddie Bauer (see “Eddie Bauer Suspends Match’), 7-Eleven (see “7-Eleven Latest to Suspend 401(k) Match’), and FedEx (see “FedEx Suspends Match, Cuts Pay’).
However most plan sponsors responding to a recent PLANSPONSOR survey said they had no plans to change their 401(k) match program (see “SURVEY SAYS: What Are Your Plans for Your Match?’)—a sentiment echoed in a recent employer survey by Mercer (see “Most Employers Don’t Plan to Reduce Contributions’). And Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., recently reinstated its match after a suspension (see “Dollar Says Reinstating Match “Right Thing to Do’’), as did Louisville, Kentucky-based Republic Bank (see “Louisville Bank Ups 401(k) Match“).