Today, CUPE health care workers are on strike at some 18 health care
districts across the province(1). The main contentious issues are
employee scheduling and pension. And I am happy that finally after
years and years of pension mismanagement at the Saskatchewan
Association of Health organizations (SAHO), CUPE and other five
unions are taking steps to better their pension plan and to allow a
more direct management of the over billion dollar SAHO pension fund.
The SAHO pension plan is a bastardized version of an original
pension plan which was designed to financially discriminate against
union employees so that the top dogs of the health care system could
reap the benefit of their mismanagement(2).
The health care unions are right in demanding higher
contributions for their pension plan especially so when SAHO states
that if the plan experiences a deficit, benefits would be reduced
and that if deficits continue, SAHO is recommending that the entire
plan be terminated(3).
The Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations reduced
pension benefits in early 90's and at that time I realized that the
pension members at large were not properly notified as per the plan
document. Also, the fact that SAHO threatens the unions in
recommending a possible termination of the pension plan all together
is a further understanding of the utter ignorance and incompetence
of the top dogs at the helm of the health care leadership.
Therefore, I strongly advise the unions to strive for increased
pension contributions, to have a direct say in the management of
their pension plan and fund, and to definitely change their pension
plan from a formula plan to a money purchase plan(4) where there
would not be either any additional expense for actuarial consulting
services or any deficit.
References/endnotes
Relevant political and economics articles http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign
1. Strike! Health workers walk out, CBC Saskatchewan, June 8,
2001 http://sask.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/06/08/otherunions010608
2. A dangerous turn in the history of SAHO: from Hewitt Helmsing
to Louise Simard, by Mario deSantis, April 11, 2000 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2000/desantis159/SAHO-History.html
3. Unions warn of labour unrest unless improvements are made to
SAHO Pension Plan, CUPE Saskatchewan News Release, June 4, 2001
http://www.cupe.sk.ca/nr-june4-01.htm
4. Pension formula plans: Are actuarial firms told to ass-u-me
too much?, by Mario deSantis, January 15, 2001 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2001_300/desantis307/pensions.html |