I suppose no one remembers what the utilities used to do. After touting what a wonderful pension, benefits you would get by working for them; approximately 5 years before you were due to retire; they fired you and in some cases of death denied the beneficiaries payment.
Yes and it wasn't just utility companies either but the operatives words are "used to do" pension plans are vested by law now after a certain number of years, it may be 7 years, I'm not certain about that.
About 10 years ago, I had an in-law's relative, who was permanently "laid off" from a private company after 29 years and 8 months on a 30 year pension plan and the company tried to deny his pension, he got a lawyer and got his pension rather quickly and the company was ordered to pay the expense of the lawyer too.