More on Marcus Hook Viscose Plant and the First Pension in Synthetics
Scope and Content Note: Proposal made in 1939. In addition to the wage cut, management also proposed to lay off all workers 65 years of age and older, offering them a small pension, the first pension ever proposed in synthetic industry. The Union countered that an investment should be made to modernize the plant; management ultimately agreed to this. The plant remained open for another 30 years. A follow-up study of the retirees showed those without any outside interests were nearly all sick or dead within two years, while those with outside interests seemed to grow younger.