Tentative Agreement Q&A Part 2 of 3

Transcription

1 Tentative Agreement Q&A Part 2 of 3 Jointly Sponsored Pension Plan (JSPP) JOINTLY SPONSORED PENSION PLAN (JSPP) Key Pension Features: Our pension provides a guaranteed income after our working years. Our pension plan is one of the top Plans in Ontario Our pension formula is among the best you can have with a 2% accrual rate. With joint sponsorship you will have a meaningful say over your pension with 50% employer / union representation. Page 1 Original proposed JSPP agreement has been improved as follows: Date of conversion to a JSPP moved from January 2018 to January 2019 WSIB to bring the funding status to 100% January 2019 Contribution rate increases reduced from 0.8% to 0.6%/yr. Target equal 50/50 contributions shifts from 2022 to 2024/25. Employer to pay pension administrative cost, extended from 2021 to 2023, inclusive 75% guaranteed indexation extended from 2021 to 2023, inclusive 50% guaranteed indexation effective 2024 rather than 2022 CPP bridge benefit will start to be indexed 50% to 100% in Currently this benefit is not indexed 75% indexation shall be paid when the Plan is 105% funded. Previously this threshold only stated the increase may be paid. If indexation increases could not be paid there is a catch-up provision for when improvements can be made New transition team of OCEU and WSIB to be installed in 2018 Listed status in the regulations of the Ontario Pension Benefits Act to be enacted by the Provincial Government. This gives us the same preferential funding rules that apply to the Ontario Teachers Plan, OPSEU Pension, College Pension Plan and more.

2 Page2 2. What would happen if the tentative agreement is not endorsed? The tentative agreement would be set aside. Any gains could be lost. The Jointly Sponsored Pension Plan (JSPP) would not move forward. The parties would go back to the drawing board to once again discuss how to keep the Plan sustainable and affordable. Our concern is that if we do not move forward with the JSPP now and if there is a change in the Provincial Government following the June 2018 election, our window of opportunity will close. Right now, the Province supports the conversion of our Pension Plan to a JSPP. 3. Will the JSPP protect us from Target Benefit Plans in the future? Yes. By converting our Pension to a Jointly Sponsored Pension Plan we will continue to have a defined benefit (DB) Plan. The defined benefit plan provides a true pension promise that guarantees the level of entitlement for when you retire. Canadian pension law has traditionally offered legal protection to pensions that are promised. Yet over the past five years, federal and provincial governments in Canada have been rewriting pension laws to legally permit employers to reduce promised pensions not only to workers, but also to retirees. The Target model can legally permit, for the first time, a complete conversion of a defined benefit plan (where pension benefits cannot be reduced) into a target benefit plan (where pension benefits can be reduced). Such conversions are now permitted not only on a go-forward basis, but also on a retroactive basis for benefits that have already been earned (even for retirees). Federal Legislation: The federal Liberal government has introduced, but not yet passed, legislation that would permit conversions of DB plans for federally-regulated employers (like airlines, rail, telecommunications, finance and Crown Corporations). The proposed legislation would similarly permit a retiree s entire defined benefit entitlement to be retroactively converted to a reducible target benefit pension. Ontario: The WSIB pension plan is regulated in Ontario, where such changes have not yet been legislated. Yet we know that the Wynne government is interested in target benefit plans, and future Ontario governments may indeed further this trend and enable target benefit plans that allow for alreadyearned accrued DB benefits to be retroactively converted to insecure target benefits.

3 Page3 JSPP Protection: OCEU is pursuing a jointly-sponsored defined benefit plan, where we will have a clearly-defined, joint role in plan sponsorship and administration. Banking on the status quo has not proven to be beneficial to the tens of thousands of retirees in Canada who have had all their legal pension guarantees taken from them and replaced with an insecure, contingent pension. OCEU believes that both active and retired members will continue to enjoy having a Defined Benefit Plan and not be at risk of a Target Plan if the OCEU is a joint sponsor of our plan with the employer. 4. Are Defined Benefit pension plans on the decline? Over the last 40 years the number of defined benefit plans in Canada has sharply declined. Workplaces that offer a defined benefit pension plan have steadily dwindled primarily in the private sector but also in the public sector. Recent examples include the auto industry and Canada Post carriers. Both have closed their defined benefit plans. Any future service will be covered by a defined contribution plan which unlike a DB has no guarantees. Unlike other workplaces OCEU and WSIB have agreed to continue our DB Plan by converting to a jointly sponsored pension plan (JSPP). This is a very positive step forward which we believe removes the risk of becoming a Defined Contribution Plan or Target Plan. 5. What are the next steps for a JSPP conversion? There is a lot of work ahead before a conversion can occur. The tentative timeline for next steps is outlined below and is independent of the ratification process currently underway for the tentative collective agreement between WSIB and OCEU. Each of these steps shown must be successfully completed before the effective conversion date. Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) Legislation to amend the WSIA to allow for the JSPP to be completed prior to May 2018.

4 Page4 6. What can plan members expect next? As indicated above, there is a lot of work ahead before a JSPP conversion can occur. If union members support the conversion to a JSPP the next phase will include a 90-day consent process for the nonbargaining members of the Pension Plan, Retirees, Deferred members and Survivors. If that process is successful the Provincial Government will update both the Workplace Safety & Insurance Act and the Ontario Pension Benefits Act before the next Provincial election scheduled for June 8, We will also apply for approval by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. After that the JSPP can come into existence by January 1, Why are we considering a Jointly Sponsored Pension Plan (JSPP)? The primary motivation is to ensure our pension plan benefits remain in place. We want to prevent cuts and ensure every plan member receives the very best plan possible. 8. What are the Unions concerns with the existing way the Pension Plan is managed? The Workplace Safety & Insurance Act obligates the Board to administer an employees Pension Plan. The Act also empowers the Board of Directors (BOD) to make any decision it deems necessary to fulfill its duties under the Act. There is an inherent conflict of interest with the WSIB acting as both employer and sole pension plan sponsor and administrator. There isn t sufficient transparency in pension plan decision making. The roles and duties of WSIB senior management and the WSIB Board of directors, as both employer and plan sponsor can be blurred and overlap. What does the BOD s do in cases of competing interests in terms of what s in the best interest for Pension beneficiaries Vs. what s best for the WSIB agency? Joint pension trusteeship would provide a governance structure that would resolve this conflict. An example of this occurred at collective bargaining in The WSIB as employer, negotiated and agreed to a specific pension plan benefit [Old Age Security (OAS) Bridge], partly based on which bargaining was successfully concluded. Following this, the WSIB as plan sponsor, refused to endorse the negotiated Plan enhancement.

5 Page5 The WSIB did not consult with plan stakeholders on key pension plan decisions and past partial and full contribution holidays taken by the WSIB as employer, which were not in the best interest of the Plan members or the Pension Fund. Since the pension plan is statutory, amendments to it require the approval of the Provincial Government. As a result, some pension plan decisions may be subject to undue influence by the government of the day. 9. How does the pension plan affect me? For most of us a time will come when we no longer want to work or we are unable to work and earn. This is why pensions are important. We at the WSIB have an employment pension plan, the WSIA Employees Pension Plan. During your working years both will contribute to the Plan to provide a defined pension at retirement. The local sees these contributions as current earnings deferred until retirement, and the state recognizes this by deferring taxation until the pension becomes payable in the retirement years. 10. What does my pension plan provide? (*source Guide to the WSIB Employee Pension Plan) The Plan is a contributory defined-benefit pension plan. Plan membership is mandatory for permanent employees. Temporary employees may join the Plan after 24 months of Continuous Employment. Bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit employees of the WSIB and SWAs participate in the Plan. The Plan is funded by contributions from you and your employer, as well as by the investment earnings of the Pension Fund. Defined-Benefit Plan: As a defined-benefit pension plan, the pension benefit is defined by a formula that takes into account your Pensionable Earnings and Pensionable Service. Your Lifetime Pension is calculated using the following formula:

6 Page6 Pension Calculation 2% X Your Best 5-Year Average Earnings X Your Years of Pensionable Service Example: Employee retires at age 55 with 30 years meets factor 85 2% X $83,000 best avg. X 30 Years of Service = $49,800 CPP Integration Example: Age 65 with 30 year of Service CPP Offset Amount.5% CPP X $53,480 (YMPE 5 yr avg.) X 30 Years of Service = $8,022 The pension payments you receive from the Plan is reduced for CPP Integration, starting at age 65. The amount of pension you receive after this reduction is your Lifetime Pension. Note: The accrual rate is 2% (and this is the maximum accrual allowed by government), i.e. 2% x FAE5 x Years of service. But at age 65, the formula changes to account for CPP pension payments that an individual typically starts receiving from the government at that point. A retiree can start receiving CPP pension payments earlier than age 65 (then the CPP pension would be reduced to take into account a longer payment period), but our Pension Plan text assumes CPP kicks in at age 65. Hence, if a member retires earlier than age 65, it is one amount, and then after age 65 it s a lower amount (i.e. the CPP offset is carved out). CPP offset is only an approximation to the actual CPP pension amount to be collected by an individual, since there are other factors/variables that might affect the final CPP pension amount (example, for how long the person has been contributing towards CPP, salary based on which he/she contributed, etc.). Lifetime Retirement Income The Plan provides you with a pension that is payable for your lifetime from your date of retirement.

7 Page7 Retirement with Unreduced Pension Early Retirement with an Unreduced Pension is available when your age added to your period of Continuous Membership or Pensionable Service equals 85 years (Factor 85) or from age 60 with 20 years of Continuous Membership or Pensionable Service (60/20 Rule). The normal age of retirement is age 65. Early Retirement with Reduced Pension Early Retirement with a Reduced Pension is also available as early as age 55 if you do not qualify under Factor 85 or the 60/20 Rule. For these pensions, a reduction of 3% per year (0.25% per month) is applied to your pension, based on the number of years needed to reach your earliest unreduced retirement option. Inflation protection An automatic indexing adjustment provision of the Plan provides that all pensions are increased each January by 75% of the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPP bridge amount is currently not indexed. In 2024 automatic indexing will be 50% with the ability to increase to 100% on both the lifetime pension and the CPP bridge benefit. Survivor Benefits A Lifetime Pension or lump-sum payment may be payable to your Eligible Spouse, Eligible Children or designated Beneficiary after your death. The entitlement varies depending on whether your death occurs before or after your retirement date. Purchasing additional credit You may purchase additional Pensionable Service for certain periods during which you did not make contributions to the Plan, such as temporary service, probationary service and leave of absence or for a period of prior service in the Plan for which you no longer have any benefit entitlement. Transferring pension value into the Plan You may be eligible to transfer pensionable service from your former employer s pension plan into the Plan. Portability If you leave the Plan, you have the option of leaving your pension benefit in the Plan or you may be eligible to transfer the value of your pension to a new employer s pension plan or to a Locked-In Retirement Arrangement. 11. By converting our Pension Plan into a JSPP what other cuts did we prevent? Below is a short list of just some of the cuts our employer proposed to do in their application to the Ministry of Finance on a go forward basis. Reduce accrual rate from 2% to 1.5% [cuts approximately $225 mil] Presently if you work 30 years you get 60% of your wage. The new formula would have only provided 45% of your wage.

8 Page8 Reduce best 5 of last 10 to Career Average Earnings [cuts approximately $132 mil] Remove indexing 75% of consumer price indexing (CPI) [cuts $148 mil] This change would have meant your retirement payment would no longer be adjusted for inflation. As a result, the purchasing power of your income will decrease every year. 12. To protect my pension how much will my contribution rates change? The contribution rate increases will be gradually phased in at a rate of 0.6% starting in 2019 until the parties reach equal cost sharing likely by 2024 / Our current rate of contributions is low compared to the majority of other plans. Contribution rates are likely to increase under a jointly sponsored pension plan to approximately 10%. 13. How long has our pension plan existed? The WSIB Employees Pension Plan came into being on July 1st 1940 as then legislated. It is under regulation as amended from time to time, and is funded by employee and employer contributions. The WSIB as the employer, is the sole sponsor and also sole administrator of the plan. While such a governance structure may have been the norm in 1940, in 2017, this is no longer so. The Pension Plan serves as a meaningful component of the total compensation program and despite market fluctuations our plan has never had a problem providing the defined benefits and will continue to do so. 14. What is the total value of the employee s pension plan? The Pension Plan is valued at $3.1 Billion. The funds sole purpose is to provide a monthly income for the Plan members when they retire. 15. Who is responsible for the existing deficit? According to the Provincial Government pension regulations and our JSPP agreement, WSIB is solely responsible for the existing deficit.

9 Page9 16. What are the concerns the Union has had with how surplus money in the pension plan was managed? Until the late 1990 s full contributions were religiously deducted from our wages but the employer did not always make their normal contributions. They made partial payment for many years. Why? Investment returns were better than expected, and taxation rules allowed them to reduce their contributions. This did not have to happen. The better than expected returns could have been used to make the plan better and the employer could have continued to make their full contribution. The employer, the sole administrator of the plan chose not to do so. When the local gained the right to bargain pensions during the collective bargaining process in the late 1990 s, it focused on this issue. The employer declined to utilize the entire better than expected investment returns to improve the plan. Some improvements were affected but they insisted on continuing their reduced contributions and eventually were making none. The local then insisted if the employer was not making contributions then neither should we. Not willing to resume contributions and direct the entire investment windfall to pension plan improvements, the employer allowed us to also suspend contributions. This was how the employees contribution holiday came to be. The local was never happy with this arrangement. Plan improvements are always a better option and consistent with the purpose of pensions. As well, contribution holidays could not last forever since they were driven by temporary market forces. Indeed, the market direction changed in We know what happened. When contributions resumed in 2004 it felt like a 7% pay cut. Our position is Never Again. We want members to be meaningfully involved in the decisionmaking process of the pension plan. Had this been so we could by now have a superior pension plan, utilizing to the maximum, the windfall investment returns. Specifically, in the early 1980 s and again from 1987 to 2002 the employer unilaterally took contribution holidays and the BOD's only extended the holidays to plan members in an effort to extend their holiday. Our organization is estimated to have benefited at least $56 million from the full holiday alone. We expressed our concern with how the Boards Trustees managed the employees pension money resulting in significant losses. For example: In lieu of using the surplus for permanent Pension Plan enhancements, our employer opted to take a $1.93 holiday for each $1.00 holiday a member gets. We lost nearly 200% on the dollar when our employer had a contribution holiday.

10 Page Are experts used to make financial decisions? Every Pension Plan retains an expert team of financial advisors, portfolio managers, actuarial experts, and lawyers. Managing post retirement income is serious business. Making sure we have the right experienced experts in place has been and will continue to be a feature of the WSIB Pension Plan. 18. What are the key features of a JSPP? Governance is what the pension issue is all about. The local on behalf of its members deserve to have a meaningful role in pension plan governance. Features of a JSPP include: 1. Sponsors are the Union and Employer 2. Administrator is a joint board (eight members, four trustees appointed by the Union and four trustees appointed by the Employer). Co-chairs from the OCEU and WISB. 3. Trustees will have a dispute resolution procedure (e.g. additional trustee for the rare occurrence of deadlocked decisions) 4. Contributions determined by administrator on advice of actuary within a corridor of 9% to 12.5%. Where contributions fall outside the corridor, sponsors must negotiate amendments to the Plan. 5. Initial Employee contribution rate to increase by 0.6% of pensionable earnings (gradual increase over the course of 6 to 7 years). Employer will contribute the difference thus paying a higher rate during the phase in period. 6. Implement the funding policy that addresses long-term sustainability of the Plan and associated economic assumptions and methods. 7. A contribution stabilization reserve set at 110% to 115%. (rainy day fund) 8. Deficits and surpluses to be shared equally. 9. Current Plan will continue as a Defined Benefit with no change to the pension formula, survivor benefits, early retirement provisions etc. 10. Investment policy determined by trustees. 11. WSIA amended to reflect new governance structure, current Plan text regulation repealed. Registration as JSPP approved by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO). 12. Approval of Ministry of Finance, amendment to Regulation to PBA to list the Plan as JSPP with exemption from solvency funding obligations. Both parties share the risk and both parties should share the decisions. It s time for change!