
Unions want Ottawa to return pension funds CBC \|\| November 16, 2005 [KDR: Why didn't the union do something about this back in 1999? Shouldn't someone go to jail for stealing $30 billion?] Public service unions began a court battle on Tuesday to force the federal government to repay billions of surplus dollars taken from pension funds. To get access to workers' funds, the government changed the law on pension surpluses in the late 1990s. The move made its financial position look better, at least in accounting terms, although its obligations to employees and retirees did not change. Like many private employers, the government wound up after years of good investment returns with more money in its pension funds than was necessary. Unions argue that surplus funds should be spent to improve the pension plan. The public-service unions say the money was, in effect, stolen in 1999 when the government helped itself to surpluses in RCMP, military and civil service funds. More than $30 billion was transferred to general revenue. Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com The government takes the view that no one was hurt because it stands ready to pay the agreed pensions regardless of whether there is a surplus. One of the plaintiffs is the Professional Institute of the Public Service, whose president, Michele Demers, says the government slashed jobs, put a freeze on wages and increased pension premiums in the 1990s. She says pension money was never supposed to be used to help the government out of a financial jam. Demers says a massive pension surplus should mean bigger benefits for retired civil servants and smaller contributions for those still working. "It seems that every time the government is in a straitjacket with respect to expenses and deficit and debt, the first ones to suffer are public-service employees," she said. Jose Aggrey, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, says private-sector employers generally don't have access to pension money, and neither should the federal government. Lawyers in the case are representing 300,000 employees. The unions expect it to be a long battle. About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Weekly Features Archive
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Unions want Ottawa to return pension funds

CBC || November 16, 2005

[KDR: Why didn't the union do something about this back in 1999? Shouldn't someone go to jail for stealing $30 billion?]

Public service unions began a court battle on Tuesday to force the federal government to repay billions of surplus dollars taken from pension funds.

To get access to workers' funds, the government changed the law on pension surpluses in the late 1990s. The move made its financial position look better, at least in accounting terms, although its obligations to employees and retirees did not change.

Like many private employers, the government wound up after years of good investment returns with more money in its pension funds than was necessary. Unions argue that surplus funds should be spent to improve the pension plan.

The public-service unions say the money was, in effect, stolen in 1999 when the government helped itself to surpluses in RCMP, military and civil service funds. More than $30 billion was transferred to general revenue.

Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com

The government takes the view that no one was hurt because it stands ready to pay the agreed pensions regardless of whether there is a surplus.

One of the plaintiffs is the Professional Institute of the Public Service, whose president, Michele Demers, says the government slashed jobs, put a freeze on wages and increased pension premiums in the 1990s. She says pension money was never supposed to be used to help the government out of a financial jam.

Demers says a massive pension surplus should mean bigger benefits for retired civil servants and smaller contributions for those still working.

"It seems that every time the government is in a straitjacket with respect to expenses and deficit and debt, the first ones to suffer are public-service employees," she said.

Jose Aggrey, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, says private-sector employers generally don't have access to pension money, and neither should the federal government.

Lawyers in the case are representing 300,000 employees. The unions expect it to be a long battle.

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