During the Enron scandal, where many company employees lost most of their retirement savings as the company's stock value plunged, the risks of the popular 401(k) individual retirement accounts (IRAs) became more widely known.

But while union members and their allies took to the streets to protest the devastation to Enron workers and their families, the Bush administration's stacked commission on Social Security recommended privatizing the nation's biggest national safety net against poverty – Social Security – by shifting it to a structure that most resembles private individual retirement accounts.

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi noted that most political analysts agree that the Bush administration and Republican leaders in Congress will not attempt to push the privatization of Social Security before the November elections because voters are wary of the plan following the Enron debate.

However, Tedeschi warned, GCIU families need to understand that who they vote for in November is crucial to preserving Social Security as a national program for all Americans after the elections.

The elections also are important as Congress debates reforms in pension laws to prevent more Enrons. For example, Enron set limits on employees selling Enron stock out of their individual retirement accounts, while Enron executives dumped their stock before it hit bottom.

Social Security, like GCIU pension plans, is an example of what is called a defined benefit plan – benefits are based on employer and employee contributions that in turn are based on earnings, but benefits are not limited to an individual's contributions. Individuals are guaranteed benefits for as long as they live as long as the fund exists. Benefit structures and contribution levels are set by the federal government for Social Security; by states, counties and cities for other public pension programs; and by boards of trustees for industry and company funds, such as GCIU retirement plans.

Funds of defined benefit plans are administered by trustees on behalf of the entire pool of participants. These funds employ professional investment managers to oversee investments. These professionals spend every day focused on stock markets, bond markets, mutual funds, real estate markets, and other investment areas and buy and sell stocks, bonds and other investments in large volumes.

Individual retirement accounts like 401(k)s are called defined contribution plans. Contribution levels by employees and employers are set – or "defined" – usually by employers within a legal framework established by the government. The amount of benefits at retirement depends solely on the amount in an individual's retirement account. This amount is determined by contributions over time and profit or loss on investments and interest. When an individual's money is used up, the benefits are gone.

Individuals with defined contribution plans are ultimately held responsible for making decisions on their own investments. They may turn over their funds to a professional account manager, but if investments go sour, it is the worker who risks losses, not the account manager.

Because investments are made on an individual basis, administrative costs are much higher for defined contribution plans. Stock brokers like the idea because they get commissions whenever a stock is sold or bought, no matter how the stock performs.

The State, County and Municipal Employees reported that a study by the Illinois Municipal Retirement fund concluded that investment management and administrative costs of defined contribution plans are four times as high as those same expenses in defined benefit plans.

Tedeschi said that, whether a pension plan is national, like Social Security, state-wide or city-wide like those for teachers, firefighters and other public employees, or industry-wide, like the GCIU pension plans, "defined benefit plans are better for employees and, in the long-run, better for employers and better public policy."

Tedeschi said that, since defined benefit plans provide the most security, they provide the best option for retirement. "Individual retirement accounts – or defined contribution plans – are good to use for additional income or to assure diversity but should never be relied upon for total retirement income when possible," he said.

Tedeschi said the many reasons that defined benefit plans are superior to defined contribution plans include: