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 […]
The tentative agreement reached by the Canadian National Railway Co. and the United Steelworkers union has been approved by a national ratification vote. In addition to wage increases each year of five-year agreement, it includes improved medical, dental and health-care benefits, as well as enhanced travel allowances for the 3,000 union members who inspect, maintain […]
The union representing Canadian National Railway mechanics, electricians and apprentices in Canada says workers have ratified a new collective agreement that will provide improvements to extended health-care and dental benefits. Unifor says the deal for 2,100 employees with Local 100 represents a breakthrough in improvements to benefits at the country’s largest railway. It says improvements were […]
The union representing 1,900 non-academic workers at the University of Saskatchewan is raising objections to a proposal the school has tabled to eliminate its defined benefit pension plan replace it with a defined contribution or target-benefit plan. In December, the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ bargaining committee proposed a jointly sponsored DB plan as a compromise, said […]
Employees at a seniors’ residence in Hamilton, Ont., are asking the facility’s owner, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, to provide them with better pay and a pension. The staff at Amica Dundas, which include registered practical nurses, personal support workers, as well as dietary and custodial staff, currently have no pension plan and lower wages compared […]
One of General Motors of Canada Co.’s defined benefit pension plans is fully funded on a going-concern basis. The pension plan for hourly workers posted about $9.3 billion in assets as of its last official financial release in December 2017, according to the Globe and Mail, which received the information from an anonymous source. The assets represent a 101 […]
General Motors of Canada Co. is working to set up jobs and training programs for employees who will be put out of work when it closes the Oshawa Assembly plant next year, even as Unifor promises an extended fight to keep the operation open. In addition, GM estimates about half of the 3,000 unionized and […]
The 40 employees at Welkin Child and Youth Services in Woodstock, Ont. have voted to take strike action if they can’t reach a new collective agreement by Dec. 5, 2018. In a news release, the employees’ union, Unifor Local 302, said new management at Welkin has tabled concessions to certain benefits, specifically eliminating vision care, reductions to […]