It's mostly for show, and at the end of the day, if the pensioners have enough political clout (like those of GM in 2008/2009), then they will get bailed out for real by Congress.
>I don't quite understand why employees are so excited about non cash benefits.
They might not be aware that automation has done away with the role of pension fund managers. In the old days, you couldn't just go out and buy a total stock market or bond market ETF. Nowadays, you don't even have to think about asset allocation with target date funds. And since all investments are going towards the fewer and fewer remaining companies, a bailout for one is a bailout for all.
PBGC only insures some part of a pension, has many exclusions, and is definitely not "funded" enough itself to protect against the number of pension funds that are running out of funds.
Note that certain non-profits are not obligated to be federally insured. The most notable example of this is hospital staff, as a significant number of hospitals are run by religious organizations.
In Germany, the pension (Rentenversicherung) follows you during your employment life, the mandatory contributions are automatically paid by your employer and it does not matter if the employer goes belly-up at some time between now and your eventual death.
The idea that someone could lose their retirement and depend on social security or nothing at all simply because the company one has dedicated his life to goes bankrupt is just... horrible.
It is a horrible idea, which is why it’s not true for defined benefit retirement funds in the US.
Unless one happens to work for a religious organization, in which case, yes, I agree, we should remove the religious exemption from needing to contribute to the common insurance fund for defined benefit plans.
You asserted that people in the US can lose their pensions if the company goes out of business. This isn’t true. If it were true, that would be horrible.
There’s a government supported backstop for pension funds if the company goes out of business.
In a bankruptcy proceeding, the courts try to balance the needs of retirement benefits along with the company's creditors. GE has enormous assets so it's not a safe assumption that the pension obligation just disappears in a bankruptcy.
Just imagine GE going bankrupt - who's gonna pay the pension, then? The government in a bailout or what?