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Unifor ACL would encourage all members to read and act on the following, as well to forward this information to any retirees they know whether unionized or management, as this has the potential to affect them as well.
The federal Liberal government has introduced and had first reading on Bill C-27. This Bill represents a dangerous and immediate attack on future and current retirees with Defined Benefit (DB) pension plans in the federal private sector and Crown corporations. Bell Aliant as you are probably aware is a federally regulated corporation and would fall under this bill.
C-27 was introduced without notice or consultation with Canadians, pensioners, or unions and proposes measures if passed, that will have negative implications for private and public-sector DB plans across Canada.
This bill would allow employers to remove the principal value and strength of DB pension plans, the security and predictability they provide to plan members, and thereby threaten their ability to budget for their daily lives in retirement.
Bill C-27 would allow for weakened Target Benefit (TB) pension plans instead, lowering benefits for both current and future retirees. By permitting the conversion of past-service DB pension benefits to TB plans, Bill C-27 invites employers and other plan sponsors to abandon their pension promises to employees and retirees, downloading virtually all plan risks brought on by market volatility from employers to workers and retirees.
One of the interesting links imbedded in this is towards the bottom entitled; "Bell Aliant Consultation Paper Response". Basically showing Bell Aliant was lobbying the Harper government for TB pensions as far back as June 2014.
Please take the time and encourage others you know who will be affected by this regressive legislation, to follow the link below and contact their member of parliament.
http://www.unifor.org/en/take-action/campaigns/stand-pensions-stop-c-27
In Solidarity,
Unifor ACL