Pension won’t be bargaining issue, civic union leader says

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This article was published 24/10/2016 (2737 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The head of the city’s largest civic union said he’s not concerned his bargaining team will face a pension showdown with city hall, similar to what is happening with the Winnipeg Police Association.

Gord Delbridge, president of Local 500 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said he doesn’t believe the terms of the pension plan his members belong to will be a factor in upcoming negotiations.

The CUPE 500 pension plan is managed jointly with plans that represent a diverse group of civic workers, including paramedics (represented by the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union), senior management and professional (Winnipeg Association of Public Service Officers), firefighters (United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg) and other employers.

“Our plan is totally funded and very well managed,” Delbridge said. “There are no issues there whatsoever.”

Delbridge said that, while in theory, city hall should be making matching contributions to the multi-group pension plan, in reality the city has used $260 million of surplus funds from the plan over the past 10 years to pay its share, an approach to which the parties had agreed previously.

“They’ve been on a contribution holiday for over a decade and have only recently begun making pension contributions on behalf of our members, but only a small percentage,” he said.

Delbridge said he didn’t want to comment on the police association’s situation; that group heads into bargaining next week.

CUPE 500 represents about 4,600 civic workers across several departments. Their contract expires at the end of the year and Delbridge said the union expects to give formal notice for the start of bargaining next week.

“The senior administration is well aware of how well funded our plan is — it should be a non-issue,” Delbridge said. “There’s been a misconception on the pension plan out there, but those have been addressed… I think some of the councillors are a bit more knowledgeable about how the pension plan has been working.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca