zipped Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 For immediate release (Vancouver: 4 Apr 03) - AC pension misinformation; the CAW gears up legal strategies to respond to CCAA; lobbying campaign The CAW would like to set the record straight about Air Canada’s communication with our union on the AC Mainline pension plan. The very first time that any mention or suggestion of concern about the pension plan was raised with the Bargaining Committee was last Monday, March 31st, the day before the company filed for bankruptcy protection under CCAA. Over a weekend, and a full week of bargaining, no mention was ever made about the pension plan. Nor had the company “repeatedly” advised the CAW since “February 6, 2003,” as claimed in the press release. This is a complete fabrication by Air Canada. The Court has appointed Ernst and Young as the Monitor (trustee) to oversee the CCAA proceedings. The CAW is meeting next week with its legal counsel, along with counsels from law firms it has retained, who specialize in bankruptcy and pensions. The last actuarial evaluation of the plans were completed in 2001. These are carried out every three years. Everything was in good order then. The plans were fully funded and doing well. It’s the drop in the investment markets which has affected the current value. Normally that would not be a problem in the long term, but the move into CCAA has frozen everything. We know that many of you have numerous questions about the pension and we will do our best to answer them when we are sure of the information. Next week a group of elected leadership from our Local, including the Vice Presidents, from Air Canada Mainline and Jazz, will be in Ottawa to lobby politicians. Meetings have been scheduled with 19 Members of Parliament including members of the House of Commons Transport Committee. For more information... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fester Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 Are there any laws in Canada governing the sanctity of pension plans in cases of bankrupcy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Airmail Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 CCAA allows all obligations to be compromised. There is precedent in several jurisdictions in this regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Philip Aubin Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 There are laws under which pensions must operate and these laws are not voided by the CCAA process. I believe that payments to pension plans can be suspended, at least for a while, under CCAA. Mind you, since Air Canada's last valuation showed a surplus (2 years ago) and they don't have to do another valuation until the end of the year, they weren't going to be making any pension contributions anyways. Most of our unions have people that specialize in pension and pension law, so ask them if you need more answers. Philip Aubin AC Pilot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.