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'We worked hard': Retirees Of Delphi Corp Continue To Fight For Benefits

(CBS DETROIT) -- The fight for retirees of Delphi Corp to receive full benefits continues, but there's now hope the battle may soon be over.

"We did work and we worked hard and we played by the rules," said Bruce Gump who worked for Delphi Corp. for 33 years.

Gump is now retired and has been in a 13-year fight to get his full pension.

"The bottom line to it is that none of this was necessary."

The battle began during the 2009 recession which led GM to file for bankruptcy.

Delphi--an auto parts supplier and subsidiary of GM--was also affected and pensions for Gump and more than 20,000 others were cut by as much as 70 percent.

Gump said the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) terminated the pensions during GMs bankruptcy proceedings.

He said it was an unfair process.

"They felt we had no leverage. We couldn't fight back. We're too small and too weak," he said.

We reached out to PBGC but the company declined to comment.

For Gump, he now has renewed faith he and others will get what they're  owed.

That's because earlier this week, a bill to restore their benefits was passed in the U.S House of Representatives.

It's called the Susan Muffley Act.

Gump is hopeful the Senate will pass it by the end of the year.

"It's just a matter of being fair about it," he said. "And it's something we expect from our government all the time. It just didn't happen in this case. And, you know, now we've got to get it fixed.

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