Teamsters Canada Rail Conference

The Teamsters Union is going to help the Nortel Retirees’ Protection Committee (NRPC) so that its views are heard at a demonstration on October 21 on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa. The NRPC’s fight is aimed mainly at ensuring the sustainability of defined benefit pension plans of companies in bankruptcy like Nortel.

“Other bankrupt Canadian companies are anxiously waiting to see what the courts will decide before determining if they, in turn, will abandon their responsibilities to their retirees," explained Robert Bouvier, President of Teamsters Canada. “Nortel’s case is vital to the rights of Canadian retirees.”

The sustainability of defined benefit pension plans is ensured in the United States through the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation and in Britain through the Pension Protection Fund. Both guarantee pension payments to a maximum of $5,000 a month. In Canada, Ontario is the only jurisdiction that provides such a guarantee, although it is limited to $1000 a month.

Workers from Flextronics, a Montreal plant that used to be part of Nortel, are going to come and support their fellow workers from Nortel. Flextronics workers have been fighting as well in order to make their former employer fulfill its obligations under the Retiring Allowance Plan.

“We feel that the two battles are similar because the workers once again are the ones suffering the consequences of the mess Nortel has caused,” added Robert Bouvier. The elected officials must take note – and act – to protect the interests of Canadian workers.”

The Teamsters Union will intensify its efforts to make the federal and provincial elected representatives aware of the situation faced by Nortel retirees and pre-retirement pensioners from Flextronics.

See also: Teamsters plan a demonstration in Ottawa for October 21...