WHAT ARE THE RISKS FOR OUR PENSIONS?

Transcription

1 Montreal Chapter Newsletter May 2014 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE WHAT ARE THE RISKS FOR OUR PENSIONS? Hi everyone, Before getting into BPG s recent activities, I would like to share with you some sad news we received in February. Our good friend Richard Vanslette who was a member of the Board and a PIC rep for many years suddenly passed away. We will remember him for his great career at Bell and his significant contribution to BPG. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about some of the great work that has been completed or is currently underway. For those who attended our last AGMs or watched the last President s video, you may remember that I presented a brief summary of the risk analysis we undertook in order to help us better understand the issues that could affect the security of our pensions. Some of these issues are immediate and highly important to all of us. Other issues are more long term but require action in order to prevent them from becoming critical. Yet other issues are simply observations that BPG makes concerning situations which may be indirectly or tangentially of concern to us. The eight following scenarios have been analysed: Company Restructuring: A Plan Sponsor in creditor protection sells the company s assets to pay off debt obligetions but does not sell the pension liabilities. Having re-structured itself, it then reduces payments to pensioners by the amount of shortfall in the plan. Cost of Indexation: Plan sponsors have been lobbying over the past few years for the elimination of indexation in the calculation of a pension plan s liability for funding purposes. Approximately 25% of the liability of our pension plan is attributable to indexation provisions. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting of the Montreal Chapter of BPG will be held June 5 th, Guest speakers will include: Daniel McDonald, BPG President Michel Doyon, PIC representative Two Bell executives will also be present to talk about our Pension Plan and about Bell s direction with regards to operations and service. Robert Marchessault, Director - Pension and Actuarial Services and Jean-Clément Drolet, V.P. - Network Planning and Provisioning will also take questions from the audience. IN THIS ISSUE President s Message 1 Ontario Central 2 AGM Agenda 3 The BPG Board for Welcome to our New Members! 6 Very Sad News 6 A Word from the Chapter Chair 7 Follow us on Facebook 7 Help Us Limit our Postage Costs 8 The details are available on page 3. 1

2 WHAT ARE THE RISKS FOR OUR PENSIONS? (continued) COLA: Pension plan members are offered a current and enhanced pension payment amount in exchange for surrendering all or part of future COLA increases. Annuities: A plan sponsor in Canada decides to transfer its pension liabilities to an insurance company which then provides annuities to the former plan members. Discount Rates: Plan sponsors have been lobbying for changes to the valuation methodology for pension plans by using average asset values, changes to the discount rate and bond yields using a longer study period of time. BPG s work, together with the Canadian Federation of Pensioners (CFP), regarding amendments proposed for Québec pension plans is directed towards making sure that sound economic principles are followed. Bell s Investment Policy and Pension Plan De-Risking: The Investment Policy is one means of increasing or lowering the pensioner s risk. We have examined Bell s Investment Policy, with assistance of an actuary, and have concluded that Bell s strategy has helped to lower pensioner risk. Study of the investment policy will be ongoing. Bell s Financial Health: The financial health of a pension plan sponsor is a significant factor in assessing the risk to the plan members and the pension promise. In the case of a wind up of the pension plan as a result of the bankruptcy of the plan sponsor while the pension plan is underfunded, plan members will be forced to accept reduced pensions. Consequently, the current financial status of a plan sponsor is a major determinant of the risk level to ongoing pension payments. Pensioner Protection in case of Plan Failure: Should a pension plan be underfunded when it is wound up, pensioners now inevitably suffer a loss in their pension amount. BPG, in conjunction with CFP, is engaged in a consultation process with Industry Canada regarding the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. We are looking for amendments to legislation that will reduce the likelihood of pension loss. I will take the opportunity at our next AGMs to provide additional details on these issues and the outcome of our analysis. I would also like to bring to your attention that we have three members leaving the Board this year. Special thanks to Bob Bartlett, Frank Bible and Ron Hunt for their dedication and the great work they have accomplished over the past years. New members will be joining us on the Board and you will be asked to vote for them at our next AGMs (more information is provided in this newsletter). I invite you to join us at our next AGMs and look forward to meeting you and addressing your concerns. Daniel Mc Donald President of BPG Toronto Chapter is now Ontario Central Chapter Effective April 1 the Toronto Chapter became the Ontario Central Chapter to better reflect the membership coverage. Given the geographic footprint of current members from Niagara to Kenora the name Toronto did not reflect the membership spread. It was in fact an obstacle in recruiting members outside the Toronto area. People simply did not identify with the name Toronto and since there was no chapter listed for their area they did not join BPG. We will continue to use a Toronto image on the Ontario Central webpage since it s where the majority of the chapter s members reside. 2

3 2014 Annual General Meeting The 2014 Annual General Meeting of the Montreal Chapter Bell Pensioners Group (BPG) will be held: Thursday June 5 th 2014, from 12h00 to 4:00 PM Meeting Agenda 13h00 Opening Remarks 13h10 Report of the Montréal Chapter Chair 13h30 Report of BPG s President 14h00 Treasurer s Report Elections to BPG S Board Jean-Luc Geha Vice President (BPG Montreal) Robert Guay Chair (BPG Montreal) Daniel McDonakd President of BPG Ronald Matteau Robert Guay 14h15 Break 14h30 Situation of Bell Canada s Pension Plan Michel Doyon PIC Representative 15h35 Speakers from Bell Canada - Pension and Benefits Robert Marchessault, Director Pension and Actuarial Services -Service/Operations Jean-Clément Drolet, VP Network Planning and Provisioning -Question Period 15h55 Draw - The Personal Jean-Luc Géha 16:00 Closing Remarks The Meeting will be held at Hôtel Universel 5000 Sherbrooke Street East (Corner Viau), Montréal The Hôtel Universel is located just a few steps from the Olympic Stadium and is accessible via the Viau Metro Station (+ bus 136N) Free outdoor parking is available You are invited for 12:00 to have coffee or juice and dessert with your colleagues. The meeting proper will commence at 1:00 PM. As usual, we will have a separate question period to facilitate communications with the speakers. Our Meeting in the Eastern Townships The Annual Meeting of our members from the Eastern Townships will be held on Thursday, June 12 th, at 1:30 PM at 2615 Hertel (Knights of Columbus), in Sherbrooke. 3

4 The BPG Board for Further to the adoption of new by-laws governing the operation of not-for-profit organizations, the Board may consist of 7 to 20 members, ideally reflecting the proportional representation of members as of the 31 of December 2013, 54% from Ontario and 46% from Québec. The Board currently has 18 members, representing a 50/50% regional split. The Nominations Committee is looking for a candidate from Ontario in order to reach a 53/47% representation. Six seats are reserved for directors elected by each chapter (three in Ontario and three in Québec). These directors are the Chapter Chairs. The remaining seats are filled by nomination to the Board and approved by the members at the general meetings. Board members may serve three consecutive terms of two years. You will find below the list of candidates recommended for the Board of Directors from 2014 to 2016 and a brief CV for the new candidates. BPG members will be asked to approve, by a show of hands, the election of these dedicated volunteers at the upcoming general meetings to be held in May and June Current Directors Chapter Chairs (elected by the members of their respective chapters) Québec Roberte Cadieux Michel Doyon Jean-Luc Geha Dan Mc Donald Louise Touchette Ontario Sue Dawes Bob Farmer Penny Gilray Director (Communications) Director (PIC and Audit) Director (Audit) President Director (Nominations) Director (Pensions) Past President Treasurer Québec Robert Guay Norm Kelly Jean Lamer Ontario Frank Bible* Marlyn Easterbrook Titus Ramkhalawansingh Montréal Section Télébec Québec Southwestern Ontario Ottawa Ontario Central (formerly Toronto) *Frank Bible s term will end in May New Candidates Québec Yvan Dutrisac Director (Benefits) Ontario Marg Eades Don Graham Bill Hollett Patte Seaton Director (Pensions) Chair, Southwestern Ontario Vice President Secretary 4

5 Yvan Dutrisac Yvan retired in December 2004 after more than 35 years of service. During his career at Bell Canada, Yvan worked in the Installation & Repair groups, various support groups, Internal Audits, many Human Resources entities as well as for Bell Canada International. He joined the Montréal Chapter of the Bell Pensioners Group in 2005 as Director of recruiting and, in September 2005, he became Chapter Chair, a position he held until June In addition, he served on the Membership Committee, on the Governance Committee and as a member of the national Board of Directors. Yvan has an extensive knowledge of pension plans and benefits and he is a relentless defender of the rights of Bell retirees. Marg Eades During her 35-year career, Marg Eades held a variety of positions in a number of Bell departments including the Computer Communications Systems Group, Engineering Economics, Internal Audits, and Corporate Communications. Her early Company experience set the stage for Marg s extensive communications career in support of diverse regulatory, corporate policy and marketing issues and initiatives. Her contribution to corporate issues management helped mitigate the negative impact that various Bell initiatives might otherwise have had on the Company s reputation. She retired at the end of Marg is a long-time member of the Finance Committee at Parkdale United Church in Ottawa and remains active with the Ottawa-based group of Bell volunteers. Marg joined the BPG Pension Committee in January 2012 and assumed the role of secretary in March She joined the BPG Board of Directors in May Don Graham Don retired from Expertech in 2008 with 35 years of service. During his career at Bell/Expertech he held management positions in Construction, Professional Development and Outside Plant Sales. At the time of his retirement Don was an Executive Account Manager for Ontario, Western Canada and the Caribbean. Don joined BPG Southwestern Ontario (SWO) Chapter in 2008 as a Committee Rep for Kitchener / Waterloo/ Guelph / Cambridge. Don has been successful in recruiting replacements for SWO Chapter Treasurer and Secretary positions along with adding additional community reps. In 2013 Don volunteered for the position of SWO Vice Chair with the intent of moving into the SWO Chair position in Bill Hollett Bill retired from Bell in 2004 after 39.5 years of service. Bill s career began as a C.O. tech in the Agincourt exchange in northeast Toronto and continued on a network tangent in Operations and Traffic Management. He managed Operations Districts throughout Ontario and the National Nexxia network; living in Kitchener, Ottawa and mainly Toronto. His final responsibility was Senior GM, Broadband to the Home, leading a small team that would operationalize the network requirements for what is now known as Fibe TV. After retiring he consulted with numerous technology companies until His hobbies include senior hockey, music, travel, and a bunch of grandkids! Patte Seaton Patte retired in 2004 from Bell Canada as a Customer Care Executive with 32 years of service. She is a recognized customer service leader with a solid background in operations, staff management and consulting within the telecommunications and call centre industries. In 2005 Patte established Seaton Consulting Ltd, a provider of call centre services both in Canada and in Australia. In 2008 she was part of a partnership that created a retail on the road concept featuring ladies golf and leisure wear from Canadian suppliers, growing the business yearly until it became too busy and not enough time for golf and leisure! Since 2005, Patte has volunteered at the Oakville Hospital and has been on the Volunteer Association Board for five years and is currently the Vice Chair. Patte joined the BPG Board in October 2013 as Secretary. This newsletter is published by the Montreal Chapter of the Bell Pensioners Group (BPG). The inclusion of an advertisement in this newsletter does not imply an endorsement by BPG. Please send your comments or suggestions to André Bergeron at: andrembergeron@sympatico.ca 5

6 Welcome to the New Members of the Montreal Chapter! We now publish in our quarterly newsletters the names of the new members of the Montreal Chapter. Here is the list of former colleagues who have joined BPG since the publication of the last issue. Antonicci Carmelina Barbeau Bernard Baril Pauline Beaudoin Robert Beauregard Normand Bélair Richard Bélanger Louise Benoit Alexina Bibeau François Boisvert Léo Bolduc Michèle Bouffard François Boyer Gisèle Brien Claude Brissette Michel Brissette Jean Brosseau Pierre Brouillette Alain Buron Ginette D. Cardinal Danielle Côté Réginald Côté Serge Coutu Suzanne Dadoun David Damphousse Sylvie D'Anjou Carole Daviault Claude Delhaes Michel DeVette René Dionne Colette Dubé Daniel Duberger Ginette Dupuis Richard Emond Marc-André Gagné Lucie Gagnon Robert Gagnon Pierre Gallant Christine Gaudreau Yvonne Gauthier Gisèle Gauvin Phil Geneau Jean Gérard Marie-Iline Germain Richard Girard Ginette M. Gosselin Claire Gosselin Gilles Gour Lise Grondin Andrée Grossi Rosanna Guilbeault Rolande Haineault Pierre Hubert Guy Hurtubise Jean Joly Guy B. Labonté Richard Landry Johanne Laplante Pierre Latendresse Raymond Lefebvre Jean Guy Lepitre Stephen A. Liard Thérèse Lizotte Caroline Martin Carole A. Martin Brisebois Dora Morin Michel Munger Lucie Neville Maureen Ouellet Edith Paquin Gaëtan Pelletier Sylvie Pinard Michel Plesz Robert Poisson Patrick Pronovost Lucie Proulx Stéphane Rolfe Norman S. Rousseau Claude Salori Antoinette Sauvé Yvon Shepherd Trudelle Denise Sun Suzanne Touchette Normand Tremblay Pierre-André Vallée Michel Vézina Hélène Vincent Eugène Virone Danielle Wigney Debra Lynn Yep Constance Very Sad News It is with great sadness that we learned of the sudden death of our colleague and friend Richard Vanslette last February 13 th. Over the past years, Richard played an important role in the Bell Pensioners Group. From 2007 to 2012, Richard was the Quebec Pensioners representative on the Bell Canada Pension Information Committee (PIC). During this same period of time he sat on the BPG Board of Directors, and he was also involved in the Pension Committee s work. The members of the Board of Directors who interacted with him during these years, appreciated his knowledge, his professionalism and his concern for the common good. BPG Quebec members will recall his talents as a popularizer in his reports on the Pension Plan in our newsletters or in his presentations at our annual meetings. His colleagues and friends at Bell will remember him fondly for a long time. Robert Guay Chair-Montreal Chapter 6

7 A Word Le From mot the du Chair président of the de Montreal la Section Chapter, de Montréal Robert Guay Greetings, I hope this first Montreal Chapter 2014 newsletter will be of interest to you. As you can see, there is no lack of subjects or files. In addition to those who work tirelessly directing these files, there is a team responsible for selecting the subjects to be covered, writing the articles, seeing to the printing of the newsletters, and lastly getting them to you. I would like to thank them and congratulate them, namely: Roberte Cadieux, André Bergeron, Louis Lapierre, Stu Smith, Gladys Scully, Lise Lefebvre, Lise Ouellet as well as the many volunteers who ensure the mailing of the newsletters. It is thanks to them that you receive a quarterly newsletter of excellent quality which includes content relevant to our mission. A few words on recruitment: our efforts continue to give good results and 90 new members have joined us since our last December newsletter. Our statistics clearly demonstrate that word of mouth is by far the most effective recruitment tool. Thank you for your help and please continue to promote the BPG with your former colleagues who are not members yet. Lastly, it is with great pleasure that I announce that Gérard Zagrodnik, whom many of you surely know, is joining our team, to further develop our strategies, and direct our recruitment efforts. I am convinced that his experience and vigor will be of great help to us. Gerard: a hearty welcome! Many get togethers, breakfast meetings, dinners are on the 2014 agenda to meet many of you. Don t forget to tell us about them. It will be my pleasure to go and discuss with you the priorities which we are working on and to answer your questions. In closing, I invite you to join us at out Annual General Meeting on June 5 th ; a great occasion to renew with former colleagues. I hope to see you there. Have a pleasant spring.finally!! Robert BPG now has its Facebook page. Follow us on Facebook Several retirees, employees and groups from Bell use Facebook. For BPG, it is an opportunity to increase its visibility and, foremost, to make itself known to non-members. This media also gives us the possibility of promoting BPG on other groups pages. Visit our Facebook page and «like» it. You can access it on the homepage of our website or on the Facebook network. 7

8 Help us Limit our Postage Costs On March 31, 2014, Canada Post introduced a new pricing structure. With the price of stamps increasing 37% going from 63 cents to $1 for single stamps and 85 cents for greater quantities, imagine how much it will cost to send the Bell Pensioners Group (BPG) newsletters to thousands of members every year. Incidentally, the cost of mailing a newsletter is higher than the price of a stamp. Therefore, we would appreciate your cooperation in helping us keep our postage costs to a minimum. A simple solution would be for you to receive your newsletters by rather than by mail. We would like to thank those BPG members who already receive their newsletters by . Why not follow their lead? Subscribe to our electronic distribution list to obtain your chapter s newsletters by . You will receive an notification as soon as the latest newsletter is available. This simple gesture would help reduce our postage costs and reinforce our environmental efforts by cutting down on paper use. To subscribe to our electronic distribution list, send an to montreal@bellpensionersgroup.ca and make sure to provide your name, BPG member number and address. Thank you for your support! HAVE YOU PAID YOUR DUES? As of the beginning of May, about a hundred of our members had not yet paid their dues for If you are one of them, please send your check today! You can also pay online on our website. Do not forget that your dues are our only source of income. 8