Pensioners have been hosed by expecting big corporations to always be there and send that check.
You don't need the big corporation to be there to send the check as a huge number of private pensions are backstopped by the PBGC which will continue payments up to something like $67,000/year. I think there has only been on major pension benefit loss at a private company - the Delphi
salaried workers lost about 40% of their pension benefits during the 2009 automotive bailout (hourly workers received their full pension as part of the agreement between GM and the federal government).
This assumes you work there long enough to qualify
I see lots of folks pining for the DB pension. Why? These are a terrible deal for the modern worker. It limits your mobility and ties your future success to the future success of the company that employs you.
Often its because you get a much better "guaranteed" amount than you could get by investing it. My wife is covered by a pension and I did the math when faced with a 'participate in the pension or get a 403b match' option. Taking the employers 403b match we wouldn't break even with the yearly pension payout unless our investments managed 13% gains
every year so we stuck with the pension option. She was eligible after 10 years which isn't a long stretch although I know that duration is not the case everywhere. And, as mentioned above, it doesn't necessarily require the company still exist to get at least a good chunk of your pension.
Of course we hedged out bets and she contributes (sans match) to a 403b anyway. If both SS and her pension exist we are going to go on a spending spree later in life