Report vindicates Albertans who rallied against Redford’s attack on public sector pensions
Far from being “unsustainable,” Alberta’s largest pension plan is very healthy – and getting healthier
Read moreLabour Coalition Advisory:Three promise-breaking Redford performances nominated for political “Oscar”
What: "Oscar" ceremony for political performances at public employees' rally
When: 2 p.m., Sunday, March 2, 2014
Where: Churchill Square, downtown Edmonton
Why: To award the "Political Academy Award" for best acting in a political leadership role
Who: Hundreds of public-sector employees
Three promise-breaking Redford performances nominated for political "Oscar"
EDMONTON – Three promise-breaking performances by Alberta Premier Alison Redford are eligible to win the "Oscar" for "Best Actor in a Political Leadership Role" at a special public ceremony in Edmonton Sunday.
Participants in the March 2 outdoor public "Political Academy Awards" ceremony in Churchill Square will learn which of the premier's starring performances in Alberta political theatre won the award shortly after 2 p.m.
Ms. Redford's performances have been nominated for:
• Convincing Albertans she would protect their public health care system
• Convincing Albertans she would protect their public education system
• Convincing Albertans she would protect their retirement plans
Despite extremely cold temperatures, hundreds of Albertans are expected to attend the event, sponsored by the Labour Coalition on Pensions.
"Yes, it will be cold, but no colder than the hearts of Progressive Conservative politicians who would put valued public services and promises to hard-working employees at risk," said Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan on behalf of coalition members.
Media are encouraged to dress warmly and attend the ceremony.
-30-
MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Action Alert: Rally for Retirement Fairness on March 2
RALLY FOR RETIREMENT FAIRNESS
2:00 PM, SUNDAY, MARCH 2
FIGHT FOR THE PENSION YOU PAID FOR!
The Redford government is trying to dictate pension plan changes without negotiation. If this goes ahead, it will break the pension promise made with thousands of Albertans. On March 2, at 2:00 p.m. join us in Churchill Square in Edmonton to make your voice heard.
Action Requested:
Turn out to the RALLY on Sunday, March 2nd at 2:00 p.m.
Stand up and make your voice heard. Hundreds of concerned Albertans will be gathering in Sir Winston Churchill Square for lively and family-friendly rally.
Come for live music, coffee, hot chocolate and popcorn.
Most importantly, come to send a clear message to the Redford Government that pension promises cannot be broken!
When: Sunday, March 2, 2014 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Where: Sir Winston Churchill Square
Questions: For more information on the proposed government changes, visit www.truthaboutalbertapensions.ca
For more information on the RALLY on SUNDAY, contact the Alberta Federation of Labour at 780-483-3021.
Labour Coalition: Auditor General's report illustrates need to halt changes to public service pensions
The report of the Auditor General released today supports the argument that changes to public employee pension plans are premature and have not been properly analyzed.
The approach taken by the Redford government has lacked consultation and testing of outcomes as recommended by the Office of the Auditor General in its report.
The Labour Coalition on Pensions, made up of public sector unions with members and retirees in Alberta public sector pension plans, urges Finance Minister Doug Horner to consider today's recommendations by the Auditor General and ensure that proper consultation and outcomes testing has taken place before major changes to the plans are introduced.
Unions have consistently recommended changes to governance of the plans that would improve stakeholder involvement in plan design changes to manage risks, as recommended by the Auditor General's report, and that these changes have not been implemented by the government.
The Coalition notes specifically that the Auditor General concluded on page 31 of today's report that it is "unclear whether the proposed reforms significantly increase the likelihood of the plans' sustainability."
Among the points made by the Auditor General's report are the following:
• The Government of Alberta has not properly engaged plan stakeholders - the employees and employers who pay for the plans
• The government has not fully considered effects of the changes they are pushing through
• The government has not planned how any changes would actually be implemented
• The "hard cap" on pension contributions proposed by the government can in fact harm the plans' sustainability
The Auditor General's report provides clear evidence the government's rushed process to major pension plan changes needs to be halted until appropriate consultation with stakeholders and rigorous analysis of the impacts of the government's proposals has been completed, a process that cannot happen in a few weeks.
-30-
Backgrounder: Coalition Response to AG's Report
MEDIA CONTACTS:
780-218-9888 – Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour and Chair, Labour Coalition on Pensions
780-991-1274 – Elisabeth Ballermann, President, Health Sciences Association of Alberta
780-918-3061 – Marle Roberts, President, Canadian Union of Public Employees-Alberta
780-265-2294 – Guy Smith, President, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees
780-425-1025 – Heather Smith, President, United Nurses of Alberta
Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]
Thousands of Albertans learn how much pension changes will cost them
Online calculator at TruthAboutAlbertaPensions.ca
shows impact of destructive pension proposals
Edmonton – Public-sector workers all over Alberta are learning how much the Redford government's pension proposals could cost them.
In one week since the Alberta Labour Coalition on Pensions launched a web-based pension calculator, 3,375 members of the Local Authorities Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Plan have found out how much they stand to lose if early retirement provisions are eliminated and Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) are reduced or suspended as the Redford Government has proposed. The calculator, which was created with the help of actuarial firm Brendan & George, can be found at www.TruthAboutAlbertaPensions.ca
"This pension calculator takes a complicated policy debate and makes the changes tangible and personal to the people who will be affected by the changes," Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. "These workers have earned their pensions, they've paid for their pensions, and now the government is cutting these pensions with no justification."
As an example, the calculator shows that someone born in 1980 who retires with 30 years of service at the age of 65 with a salary of $65,000 will see her retirement income reduced by as much as $794 per month in inflation-adjusted dollars by the time she's 75. Someone born a decade earlier, in 1970, who retired with only 20 years service with the same salary of $65,000, might see his pension cheques reduced by $364 each month.
"If you know anyone who is retired, and on a fixed income, you know that losing $364 a month would cause problems. Losses of $700, $800 or more each month could be disastrous," McGowan said. "For most Alberta voters, there's a difference between hearing that their pension will fall behind inflation. It's another thing to know that it will mean a specific number of dollars fewer in their pocket every month after their retirement. It's information that they need to know when they follow this debate."
In the fall, the government announced major changes would be made to Alberta's four public-sector pension plans, including the two biggest, the Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP) and the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP). Taken together, these proposed changes would slash the value of pensions earned by Alberta public-sector workers by 25 per cent or more on benefits earned after January 1, 2016.
The Pension Calculator was commissioned by a coalition of unions and associations that have members in LAPP and PSPP. The coalition includes: the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), the Alberta Fire Fighters Association (AFFA), the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) and a number of smaller unions.
-30-
MEDIA CONTACT:
Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.9888 (cell)
Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Redford government’s proposed cuts to public-sector pensions are “unjustified, unfair and reckless”
New actuarial study demonstrates that Alberta pension plans are healthy and getting healthier – even without benefit changes
EDMONTON – A new study prepared by an independent, professional actuary shows that Alberta's largest public-sector pension plans are healthy and well on the way to returning to fully funded status – even without any changes to benefits.
The results of the study fly in the face of arguments used by the Redford government to justify its plan to roll back pensions covering almost 300,000 public-sector workers and pensioners in Alberta.
In the fall, provincial Finance Minister Doug Horner announced that major changes would be made to Alberta's four public-sector pension plans, including the two biggest, the Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP) and the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP).
In particular, Horner said he would bring in legislation in the spring of 2014 that will allow him to eliminate guaranteed cost-of-living adjustments and all early retirement incentives for workers covered by plans like the LAPP and PSPP.
Taken together, Horner's proposed changes would slash the value of pensions earned by Alberta public-sector workers by 25 per cent or more on benefits earned after January 1, 2016.
Horner has said the changes are necessary to ensure the sustainability of Alberta's pension plans. However, the report from actuaries at Vancouver-based George & Bell Consulting shows that both the LAPP and PSPP are sustainable and healthy over the long-term without any changes.
The George & Bell study concludes that, under the most likely economic scenario and with no major changes to benefits, both the LAPP and PSPP will return to fully funded status within nine years.
The total costs of the plans are also expected to drop. Costs for the LAPP will drop to the equivalent of 20 percent of payroll (split between employers and employees) and costs for the PSPP will drop to 16 percent (also split between employers and employees).
Even under the most pessimistic scenarios, the study shows that both the LAPP and PSPP will dramatically improve their funding status and keep costs under control – without having to resort to any of the deep cuts proposed by the Redford government.
The George & Bell study was commissioned by a coalition of unions and associations that have members in LAPP and PSPP. The coalition includes: the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), the Alberta Fire Fighters Association (AFFA), the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) and a number of smaller unions.
The study was recently submitted to the Minister Horner in support of a brief from the Coalition opposing the government's plan to make major changes to pension plans like the LAPP.
-30-
MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Link: Backgrounder - Fast Facts on Pensions
Commentary from Union Leaders
"These pension plans are the cornerstone of retirement security for hundreds of thousands of Albertans. If the government is going to unilaterally undermine that security, then they had better have a damn good reason. What this study shows is that they government hasn't managed to get its facts straight. They've failed to make the case for the big rollbacks they're proposing." - Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour
"Despite all heated rhetoric that the government has been using to justify their slash-and-burn plan for pensions, the reality is that there is no crisis. Our pension plans are healthy. In fact, they're on track to getting even healthier without making any major changes." - Guy Smith, President, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees
"The government's plan for pension cuts is unjustified, unfair and reckless. In the name of sustainability, they're actually going to make the plans less sustainable by tying the hands of the people who manage the plans and undermining the confidence of the workers and employers who participate in the plans." - Heather Smith, President, United Nurses of Alberta
"There's an old saying that if something isn't broken, you shouldn't try to fix it. This is a perfect time for Albertans to be reminded of that saying." - Elisabeth Ballermann, President, Health Sciences Association of Alberta
"Where's the government's evidence? We've commissioned an independent actuarial study showing that Alberta pension plans are healthy and getting healthier, even without cuts or changes. Why hasn't the government released its own actuarial study? Could it be that their actuary came to the same conclusion as the actuaries at George & Bell?" - Marle Roberts, President, Canadian Union of Public Employees (Alberta Division)
Media Advisory: Money Talks, Thank You For Listening
Satirical protest parodies Prime Minister’s policy of plutocracy
At a rally at 1:00 p.m. sharp this Halloween, a satirical protest performance will take place outside the BMO Centre in Calgary. At the event, actors and volunteers will pose as extravagantly wealthy multibillionaires, and will thank 2013 Conservative Party of Canada Convention delegates for supporting policies that suppress wages, gut retirement security, and place an unfair burden on middle-class families.
The event is organized by the Alberta Federation of Labour, the province’s largest worker advocacy organization.
When: Thursday, October 31, 1:00 p.m. sharp
Where: BMO Convention Centre, 12th Avenue SE & 3rd Street SE Calgary
Who: Alberta Federation of Labour
(President Gil McGowan will be available for comment)
What: Satirical Protest
-30-MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
For more information, please contact:
Ishani Weera, AFL Organizing and Outreach Director at 780-218-7956 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]