The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is adding its voice to the concerns about possible pension plan changes by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. “The OMERS pension plan is in good shape financially and will ensure a dignified retirement for the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who’ve paid into it throughout their working careers,” […]
Quebec has passed its bill eliminating disparities in pension and supplementary group benefits plans. The bill was passed on Tuesday with a number of additions to the province’s labour standards, including the following paragraph: “Any distinction made solely on the basis of a hiring date, in relation to pension plans or other employee benefits, that affects employees performing […]
United Steelworkers union members in western Labrador have ratified a five-year collective agreement that includes increases to medical benefits, pensions and wages. More than 1,300 union members who work for the Iron Ore Co. of Canada will return to work after a nine-week strike. “Our members are the people who work hard every day and […]
As lobbying efforts intensify to keep Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ employees in the public service pension, plans are moving ahead to convert a multi-union, multi-employer plan into a target-benefit arrangement. Collective agreements ratified in September 2015 between the United Steelworkers union and CNL state that employees hired before that date would stay in the public plan until September 2018, […]
The terms of a settlement for Wabush Mines’ former employees and retirees are now available, including an $18-million payment to address a $28-million pension shortfall and an estimated $10.9 million to compensate for the loss of health benefits. The settlement affects 1,700 pensioners and former unionized employees of the Newfoundland and Labrador-based mine owned by Cleveland Cliffs Inc., according […]
Three years after Wabush Mines filed for restructuring, its former employees and retirees will see an increase to their pensions, following a previous reduction of between 21 and 25 per cent, as a result of a proposed settlement in the matter. While the amounts won’t be public until the court overseeing the company’s insolvency approves a settlement in principle, […]
Carleton University employees are beginning job action Monday morning in defence of their defined benefit pension plan. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents some 900 administrative, technical and library staff, is arguing that the university is attempting to strip pension language from its employees’ collective agreement. “Throughout bargaining, Carleton has placed obstacles in the path […]
B.C. plan sponsors will have lots of questions to consider as the provincial government prepares to introduce a new employer health tax. “It’s going to be interesting, because the employers, obviously, are going to be looking at that employer health tax as a cost of doing business,” says Avinash Maniram, a partner and senior consultant at PBI […]
Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 561 in Coquitlam, B.C., have voted to transfer active employees from the School District No. 43 non-teaching pension plan into the British Columbia Municipal Pension Plan. Terms of the deal include a four per cent wage increase to cover the difference in pension contributions between the two […]
Looking ahead at economic uncertainty and legislative changes around employment standards, 2018 will be a year of complexity at the bargaining table for both employers and unions, according to a new report by the Conference Board of Canada. The report, which also draws from the organization’s latest compensation planning outlook survey, found that the top three negotiation […]