Ohio & Mahoning Valley - It's a story that's been covered in the Mahoning Valley for more than a decade now as Delphi Salaried Retirees continue the fight to get their pensions restored after the General Motors bankruptcy.

In late September, 21 News asked then-candidate Joe Biden if elected President, what he would do to help these workers who were fighting for years to restore what they've earned. 

"I'm going to do everything I can to see how they can be brought in," Biden said, "Look, people work like hell for their pensions. My dad lost his pension when the company he worked for went out. It's not right, so what I'm going to do is be working with your senator to figure out how we can bring in the salaried workers who are really hurting badly. They deserve their pension."

However, the latest round of COVID-19 relief from the federal government does not include any help for the Delphi Salaried Retirees and both Ohio state senators said Biden has not spoken with them about the despair. 

"It has caused a huge amount of damage to us, our families, our communities, our whole state and it needs to be overturned as quickly as possible," Bruce Gump, Delphi Salaried Retirees Association Chairman, said.

Senator Sherrod Brown said the political landscape in Washington makes it difficult to get legislation passed because of narrow majorities in both the House and Senate. As a result, Democrats couldn't afford to lose a single vote in getting the most recent relief package passed and there was no political appetite to include much more.

"I don't know what's next," Brown said, "I'm hopeful we can do it. I'm hoping to get republican support."

The most recent rescue package includes help for 100,000 Ohio workers' union pensions, but Brown says the Delphi case is more complicated, and getting help for them is going to require a separate bipartisan effort; one he said he hopes to introduce soon.

"Oh absolutely," Brown said, "If we can bi-partisan support, we can get this through."

Brown has worked on previous legislation to help Delphi workers, along with Senator Rob Portman and Congressman Tim Ryan.

Senator Rob Portman's office released a statement:

"Senator Portman believes the more than 5,000 Delphi salaried retirees living in Ohio deserve to have their hard-earned pensions restored after getting a raw deal from the Obama administration."

Congressman Tim Ryan also released a statement:

“I continue to work on behalf of the thousands of Delphi Salaried Retirees in my district and across Ohio.  While the American Rescue Plan didn’t specifically address their issue, I remain firm in my support of their cause.  Likewise, I am proud we were able to get the Butch Lewis Act included in this relief package to help financially restore the pensions of more than 40,000 Ohioans. It took many years to get the Butch Lewis Act passed, and it succeeded because we didn’t give up – and I’m not giving up on Delphi Salaried Retirees or the thousands of retirees who lost or had their pensions reduced by no fault of their own. I promise to continue working with the Biden Administration and the Ohio and Michigan Congressional Delegations to tackle the crisis facing the Delphi Salaried Retirees. I am committed to this fight."

Gump said he hopes President Biden will follow up and use his authority to direct the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to restore their pension. This, after a previous promise to do so from the Trump administration, hit a dead end.

"It's time to get this done, get it across the finish line, return what we earned just like the union workers earned their pensions," Gump said, "We're very pleased the union workers have their full pensions. We should have ours too. We earned it just as much."

The Delphi Salaried Retirees have a pending lawsuit against the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and Gump said they're considering taking it to the supreme court.