The Stel Salaried Pensioners Organization wishes to thank The Hamilton Spectator for permission to post the following article by Reporter Tara Perkins published in the September 22, 2004 edition
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Sep. 22, 2004. 12:49 AM |
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Stelco workers to fight modified
pension plan |
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By Tara Perkins |
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Local steelworkers fear Stelco will offer them the same modified pension
plan it is pushing at an Alberta plant. And the Lake Erie union is considering giving the company 90 days notice
of a strike as a result. "This is eating us," said Bill Ferguson, president of Lake Erie
Local 8782. "What they want to do is find some way to take away pensions
from young people." In a letter to employees, Stelco's AltaSteel says it is offering to
improve pension benefits to existing employees, while closing the current
pension and health plan to new employees. Instead, new workers would be given a defined contribution plan. That means
the company guarantees how much money is put into the plan, rather than
guaranteeing the benefit workers receive when they retire. Ferguson said he thinks Stelco will ask for the same changes at Lake Erie
during bargaining for 1,000 workers that is just getting underway. His local has promised Stelco 90-days notice before a potential strike
after customers like General Motors worried about the security of steel
shipments in the midst of negotiations. Ferguson said he's considering giving Stelco that notice this week. "I don't know why the Lake Erie local would want to put our customer
negotiations at risk," Stelco CEO Courtney Pratt said yesterday.
"We haven't had any discussions at all with 8782 as to what we're going
to put on the table," he said. "I would have thought that if they
were going to trigger the 90 days, it would be...on the basis of issues
related to our negotiations." At AltaSteel, employees were told in a letter that the change is
essential, and "this is not a negotiating tactic." "For the 40-odd steel companies in North America that have gone into
bankruptcy or bankruptcy protection, pension and benefit costs were
unsustainable ... If AltaSteel wishes to remain viable and avoid the
bankruptcy path others have gone down, it must introduce different pension
and benefit plans for future employees," the letter said. Paul Perreault, who represents about 270 steelworkers at the plant near
Edmonton, said "the people in the plant are very disappointed,"
although "nobody's talked strike yet." tperkins@thespec.com 905-526-4620 |