While a Calgary councillor’s proposal to review all municipal pensions was passed to a city committee for further study in late April, local unions are still concerned. Councillor George Chahal, who put forward the proposal, says the city should review its pensions because the related costs for both unionized and non-union workers are rising at double the rate […]
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is declaring a bargaining impasse after failing to make substantial progress towards a new contract with the federal government. According to a press release from the union, the government is dissolving an existing memorandum of understanding on mental health without replacing it with updated framework. It also noted the government isn’t implementing recommendations […]
Members of the United Association Local 721 union in Prince Edward Island went on strike last week after being unable to reach a new agreement with their employers over wages and benefits. The union, which represents more than 130 plumbers, pipefitters and welders in PEI, began negotiations with four employers in December. Its previous contract expired […]
The union representing University of Saskatchewan support workers is one step closer to striking in an ongoing dispute regarding its members’ wages and pensions. Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1975, which has been without a contract since the end of 2015, voted to strike in September 2018 but has been held back by two disputes in front of […]
Employees at Glencore Canada’s Brunswick Smelter operation are considering striking over what their union is calling “never-ending” concession demands from the company on pensions and benefits packages. While members of the United Steelworkers Local 7085 are expected to vote on a strike on March 28 and 29, negotiations between the employer and the union, which represents […]
Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre employees will see a 55 per cent increase in their health benefits reimbursement amount and an additional day of bereavement as part of their newly ratified union contract. The contract, which covers 55 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1006A, will run from Dec. 31, 2018 to December […]
Wabush Mines pensioners in Newfoundland and Quebec will see some reversal of the pension cuts that went into effect when the operations’ parent company filed for creditor protection in 2015. When Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. shuttered Canadian operations, it left the defined benefit pension plan underfunded, subjecting pensioners to a benefits cut of more than 20 per […]
The single-employer defined benefit model doesn’t work for the university sector for one clear reason, says Cynthia Messenger, president of the University of Toronto’s Faculty Association. “The model is flawed in one crucial way,” she says. “When the plan accrues debt, the university administration must repay that debt to the pension plan. And the only […]
The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1975 is calling for an immediate meeting with the University of Saskatchewan’s board of governors to a find a resolution to the bargaining unrest on campus, which includes issues around the pension plan. The university is proposing to eliminate the current defined benefit plan and replace it with a defined contribution […]
Faculty associations at three Ontario universities, as well as certain affiliated unions, have passed a preliminary vote to convert their various existing pension arrangements into a jointly sponsored pension plan. The University of Toronto Faculty Association, the University of Guelph Faculty Association, Queen’s University Faculty Association, United Steelworkers Local 1998, United Steelworkers Local 4120 and United […]