Saint John retirees not consulted on pension fix

The head of the association representing retiredCity of Saint Johnemployees says his members were never consulted about a proposed new shared-risk pension plan.

This, despite the fact thatthe estimated 850 retirees make up almost half of the plan's membership, said Claude MacKinnon.

"It just seems to me that it would stand to reason that you would want to talk to people and let them know ahead of time what's going on," he said.

On Monday, the chairperson of a pension task force that has been reviewing the city's beleaguered pension plan, told council it has two options convert the pension to a defined contribution plan or adopt a shared-risk model similar to the one recentlyadopted by the provincial government.

'What do I know? Nothing, I have not been told anything at all.' Claude MacKinnon, retirees association

Susan Rowlandrecommended the shared-risk model, which wouldsee the risk for future deficits sharedbetween workers and the city and open the option to temporarily reduce benefits if the fund falls behind.

Although the task force has spent months reviewing the plan and meeting with city unions, MacKinnon says it ignored retirees.

"What do I know? Nothing, I have not been told anything at all," he said.

"You get parties together and you talk to them. And normally it's all of the parties."

Impact on pensioners unclear

MacKinnonsays he eventried several weeks ago to reach Rowland via email, but received no reply and has been unable to learn exactly what the proposed model would mean for pensioners.

Rowland left the council meeting after her presentationwithout talking to the media.

But shetold council that retirees, like all plan members, would have a stake in the proposed shared-risk model. If the plan runs into trouble, their benefits could be temporarily reduced.

"That base benefit is 97.5 per cent secure. You're taking a two-and-a-half per cent risk,"Rowland said.

Mayor Mel Norton could not be reached for comment.

The city's unions, which were involved in the review,have not publicly indicated whether they are in favour of the shared-risk model.

The city's official pension deficit stands at $195-million, but Rowlandtold councilthe more accurate figure would be $342 million.

Council could cut its pension deficit payments by $10 million a year and bring the deficit itself down by $35 million by switching to a shared-risk model, she said.

Council plans to hold a special meetingon Thursday night to discuss the matter.