May 31, 2012: The New Brunswick Council of Hospital Unions – CUPE Local 1252- sees the new pension plan announced today by the New Brunswick Government as a very positive outcome for its members.
“Our pension plan has been underfunded for a number of years and was in need of more funding or a new structure. We have been trying for many years to solve our funding issues. All proposals put forward by the union in the past to solve this issue had not been acted upon by the parties. Without any changes, our members may have been facing benefit reductions”, explained the President of the New Brunswick Council of Hospital Unions, CUPE Local 1252, Norma Robinson.
“The new pension plan contains many features adopted by the Dutch, who are considered to have one of the strongest pension systems in the world.”
“During our discussions with the Pension Task Force, we put forward the Dutch pension plan as a model that could be adapted to New Brunswick. The Task Force recognized the value of our suggestion and worked with all unions (public and private sectors) and the government to bring forward a new pension plan model that would be affordable and sustainable in the long term.”
“This is the best solution we could achieve for our members and retirees. The new plan guarantees the benefits of the retirees and ensures that the money will be there when active members decide to retire. All changes are on a go-forward basis and will be incremental.”
“The new plan model remains a Defined Benefit Plan but the major difference in the new plan is the shared risk.
The New Brunswick Council of Hospital Unions, CUPE Local 1252, represents more than 11,000 front line workers in the health care sector.