A Christmas present in the form of a pension plan agreement between School District 43 and its CUPE support workers may solve a number of problems for retirees and the district.
This week, CUPE Local 561 announced that it had reached an agreement with SD43 to transfer workers’ school district service, called the non-teaching pension plan (NTPP), to the Municipal Pension Plan, an achievement that has been a year and half in the making.
"This settlement is a good deal for both active members and retirees," Local 561 president Dave Ginter said in a press release.
Reached Dec. 15, the agreement still needs to be voted on by union members and approved by the province, the SD43 board of education and MPP officers.
And while neither side will reveal any details until the vote to take place in the New Year, the implication is that the switch of the plan from the school district to the municipal pension plan will eliminate a $50-million solvency gap in the workers’ plan that was identified in 2016.
Workers were also concerned about a retirees benefit plan for new retirees to close Dec. 31, and protested at a recent board meeting.
The pension plan, meanwhile, covers about 2,000 individuals — 700 retirees, 200 members who have left the employment of the school board but have not yet taken their pension and about 1,100 active employees.
Superintendent Patricia Gartland was also upbeat about the tentative agreement on the pension transfer, saying in a press release: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our employees to join one of the most well-run pension organizations in Canada. Both parties worked very long and hard to achieve the best possible outcome for employees and retirees.”
The original article speculated on the future of the Post Retirement Benefit Plan slated to close Dec. 31.. But lacking details, has been deleted from the article.
