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Provincial Unions Call For Overhaul of Pension System (Daily Gleaner, October 20th, 2008 After rallying in the streets of downtown Fredericton, about 600 provincial and private employees brought their fight for pension reform to the steps of the provincial legislature Saturday. N.B. Union members - in the capital for their biennial convention - were joined at the rally by supporters from the New Brunswick Nurses Union, CUPE and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Tom Mann is the executive director of N.B. Union, which represents 8,200 public and private sector employees. "Certainly we recognize that the economy has taken a slump, but that's really no excuse for failing to provide a dignified pension income for people who give 30, 35, or sometimes 40 years of their life to the province," said Mann. "What is being sought here is not of the Cadillac or Lexus proportion." Under the current plan, workers who retire at age 60 with 30 years paid into the plan will receive 60 per cent of their best five years of income until they turn 65. After the age of 65, that figure dips to 39 per cent as pensioners are eligible for the Old Age Security benefit. Union president Debbie Lacelle said members are also clamouring for more involvement at the bargaining table. She said governance of the plan is handled entirely by the New Brunswick Investment Management Board and union members are left out of the process altogether. "That's a little bit of a conflict," said Lacelle. "We firmly believe that members have the right to participate and be part of the decision-making process, and right now, members don't have any input into what happens with the monies under this plan." Lacelle said union representatives recently met with Finance Minister Victor Boudreau. She said Boudreau indicated that it may be time to consider a review of the plan's structure. "There has to be an act of legislation in order to change the plan," said Lacelle. "There have been discussions of establishing a small working group of government and union reps to get together and review everything from top to bottom, but we're still waiting." Lacelle said that over two years of contacting MLAs and gauging internal support culminated in the weekend rally. She said union leaders have been keeping their members informed on the issues through a series of newsletters, and that the majority of members are willing to pay more into the plan to see the situation remedied. Lacelle said she was pleased with the show of support. Posted October 22 2008, Source The Daily Gleaner, Fredericton, New Brunswick |
Who runs the union? YOU DO! Ultimately all the Union officers are there for you. You have more power than you may realize, as you can influence many aspects of the Union. As an example, each member is a vital part of the decision making process of the Local Union. Some of your responsibilities as a member are:
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