The campaign to make sure all members of the CBC Pension Plan are treated equitably continues at the CCSB. The CBC board of directors has now approved an amendment to the plan so that members of the pension plan can buy past service under ACTRA contracts. That amendment comes into effect on October 1. This will correct a long-standing anomaly that allowed people to buy back service if they converted to staff under the 1996 and 1998 collective agreements but didn’t allow employees who took staff positions at other times to buy back ACTRA service. We reported on the terms of the buy-back change after our June meeting, but the highlights of the amendment are featured below. The CBC will be providing more information to employees in the coming weeks.

The CCSB is now tackling other pension buy-back issues. Under the current rules, members of the pension plan cannot buy back the first two years of continuous contract or temporary service. Similarly, permanent part-time employees are not allowed to buy back their first two years of continuous service. The CCSB doesn’t think the CBC can justify either waiting period. At our latest meeting, we directed the CBC to change the pension plan to allow people to buy back those waiting periods at actuarial cost. The CBC will be reviewing our directive. It has raised the concern that extending that buy-back period may increase the solvency costs of the plan, but has provided no details.

The CCSB continues to closely monitor the condition of our long-term disability plan. At the end of August, a total of 310 CBC employees were off work on LTD claims. While that number remains high, the overall financial condition has improved compared to the end of last year.

Highlights of the ACTRA buy-back agreement:

? Eligible ACTRA service is restricted to the Writer/Broadcaster, Researcher/Programmer, Researcher, Sportscaster, Traffic Commentator, Host and Co-Host categories.
? Only full-time service in the above categories worked after May 31, 1980 is eligible.
? Service that is clearly identified as freelance isn’t covered.
? Periods of less than a month are excluded.
? Buy-back will be actuarial cost.

Your CCSB representatives:
Philippe Bourbeau
Ralph Legare
Carrie May
Barbara Saxberg
Jon Soper
Gabi Durocher
Dan Oldfield