Bridge to 55 - Legacy Merck vs. Legacy S-P

[Anonymous]

I was a legacy S-P employee over age 50 (not 55 yet) with over 30 years of service. I was let go due to restructuring and was told that I did not qualify for bridge to retirement (55) for pension. I was given a severance package along with bridge to medical. I find this preposterous considering that legacy Merck is qualified for bridge to retirement (55) for pension for those that are over 50 and with only 10 years of service. This leads me to believe that Merck might be letting go, in large #’s, legacy-SP employees so that they do not get an opportunity for bridge to retirement for pension whereby individual would be entitled to more $. Please provide your views on this matter. Also, do you know the rule of 85 where there might be qualification for bridge to retirement as a former S-P employee? FYI, I was told that qualification for rule of 85 applied also for legacy Merck and not legacy S-P. I feel that legacy S-P employees appear to be at a disadvantage relating to bridging to pension matters. Any assistance would be appreciated.