The federal government would face “open warfare” against any move to overhaul public sector pensions, warns the head of Canada’s biggest public service union.
John Gordon, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, has not seen any sign the government is set to revamp federal pensions, noting that a mutual agreement to increase the contribution rate from employees to meet a 60 to 40 ratio will be reached next year. Finance Minster Jim Flaherty has assured him no further changes are in store for the pension plan — and Gordon believes current speculation around the “hot button” pension issue is driven by right-wing think-tanks.
Any “drastic” change would require legislative changes, Gordon said.
“With a majority government, if they want to change the pension plan through legislation, they’d probably succeed,” he told iPolitics. “They would have open warfare on that as far as we’re concerned, because people have paid into their pension plan. This is a pension plan that has joint contribution, and it’s deferred wages.”
Jennifer Gearey, director of communications for Treasury Board President Tony Clement, said the government continues to examine ways to better manage compensation, “including the financial management of these public sector pension plans.
“Our government will continue working to ensure that public service compensation and benefits are fair to taxpayers and employees,” she said.
Asked about a Postmedia story suggesting public pensions could be up for an overhaul in this year’s budget, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday no decisions have been made on changes to deal with a potential $200-billion shortfall.
“We have already changed the pension plans in order to ensure a greater portion be paid by the employees as compared to the past. Our intention is to ensure that our pension plans are fair for the employees in the public service sector and also for taxpayers,” he said. “As to the article and the speculation in the article that you have alluded to, I can say that no decision has been taken.”
But Gregory Thomas, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Association, insists the federal pension plan is out of touch with the private sector.
“There’s no comparison — government employees can retire in their early 50s with an annual pension. Their annual pension over the first couple of years would swamp the average RRSP saving of an average Canadian.”
MPs should lead by example by revamping their own pension plan, he said. And new federal employees should embrace a pension plan that’s more in line with the private sector.
But Gordon rejected the suggestion that pensions be scaled back going forward. “When you fight for something in the labor movement, you fight for yourselves and you fight for the people in the future, so that would not be received well,” he said.
Original Article
Source: iPolitico
John Gordon, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, has not seen any sign the government is set to revamp federal pensions, noting that a mutual agreement to increase the contribution rate from employees to meet a 60 to 40 ratio will be reached next year. Finance Minster Jim Flaherty has assured him no further changes are in store for the pension plan — and Gordon believes current speculation around the “hot button” pension issue is driven by right-wing think-tanks.
Any “drastic” change would require legislative changes, Gordon said.
“With a majority government, if they want to change the pension plan through legislation, they’d probably succeed,” he told iPolitics. “They would have open warfare on that as far as we’re concerned, because people have paid into their pension plan. This is a pension plan that has joint contribution, and it’s deferred wages.”
Jennifer Gearey, director of communications for Treasury Board President Tony Clement, said the government continues to examine ways to better manage compensation, “including the financial management of these public sector pension plans.
“Our government will continue working to ensure that public service compensation and benefits are fair to taxpayers and employees,” she said.
Asked about a Postmedia story suggesting public pensions could be up for an overhaul in this year’s budget, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday no decisions have been made on changes to deal with a potential $200-billion shortfall.
“We have already changed the pension plans in order to ensure a greater portion be paid by the employees as compared to the past. Our intention is to ensure that our pension plans are fair for the employees in the public service sector and also for taxpayers,” he said. “As to the article and the speculation in the article that you have alluded to, I can say that no decision has been taken.”
But Gregory Thomas, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Association, insists the federal pension plan is out of touch with the private sector.
“There’s no comparison — government employees can retire in their early 50s with an annual pension. Their annual pension over the first couple of years would swamp the average RRSP saving of an average Canadian.”
MPs should lead by example by revamping their own pension plan, he said. And new federal employees should embrace a pension plan that’s more in line with the private sector.
But Gordon rejected the suggestion that pensions be scaled back going forward. “When you fight for something in the labor movement, you fight for yourselves and you fight for the people in the future, so that would not be received well,” he said.
Original Article
Source: iPolitico
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