The proposed bill C-27 – An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 – is designed to immediately affect pensions at federally regulated private-sector companies and at Crown corporations, and will fundamentally change the pension landscape across Canada.
Today, Tuesday, February 7 has been set as a day of action to stop these changes and save our pensions. Union members from across Canada will be on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to urge MPs to abandon Bill C-27 and focus instead on ensuring secure retirement for more Canadians and future generations of workers.
We know some of you are not able to take this action (see JSP and Article 12 of the Collective Agreement), but if you can please do your part.
It’s easy:
First, find your MP’s contact information (phone, email) by entering your postal code at: http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/compilations/houseofcommons/memberbypostalcode.aspx?Menu=HOC, then:
1. Contact your MP at their office in Ottawa and tell them to abandon Bill C-27, and to work instead for secure retirement for all Canadians today and in future.
2. Contact your MP at their Constituency office in your community, and set up a meeting with the MP about Bill C-27 for when she/he is next in the riding.
If you’re sending an email, we urge you to CC Finance Minister Bill Morneau at bill.morneau@parl.gc.ca and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca.
Feel free to use this template:
Dear MP,
I strongly urge you to stop Bill C-27 , a piece of legislation left over from the Harper government, that will adversely impact defined benefit pension plans. More Canadians need more stable pensions, not fewer. I would appreciate a response from you on where you stand on Bill C-27 and what you have done to drop it.
Regards.
Backgrounder
The federal government is proposing new legislation – Bill C-27, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act – that would allow the employer to break its commitment on our pension plan.
These changes would make retirement benefits unpredictable for current employees and retirees, not to mention future generations of CBC workers.
Information on proposed pension changes and the CBC defined benefit pension plan:
1. What kind of pension do we have at CBC and how does it differ from what the new bill proposes?
If you are a permanent employee or a contract employee (employed continuously for more than 2 years and have opted into the pension) then you are in the CBC pension plan. This plan is a defined benefit pension plan (DB) and entitles you to predictable income and secure benefits at retirement. Bill C-27 has the potential to weaken those retirement incomes.
The proposed changes would allow employers to push workers to give up their legal protections safeguarding their pensions in exchange for benefits that can be retroactively reduced.
2. How healthy is my CBC pension plan currently?
The $6.5-billion-dollar CBC pension plan continues to be in sound financial shape. However, Bill C-27 is designed to undermine all defined benefit pension plans.
3. Who will be affected by these proposed changes?
Employees in crown-corporations such as CBC and all federally regulated industries with stable DB plans will be affected by the new law. CMG believes that the best approach is for MPs to put more efforts into ensuring more Canadians have access to a secure retirement.
4. How would employers go about implementing these changes?
Experts believe that if this legislation were in place, employees could be pressured in various ways into abandoning their DB plan for a less stable option.
Jonathan Spence
CBC Branch President CMG