Natural Resources committee  I believe I heard from the representative from Treasury Board that it was a conscious decision to exclude the new employees but I will defer to the record. The alternative would be to have language regarding an equivalent benefit for pensions for the new hires during that three

Natural Resources committee  My understanding from the information that has been provided to date is that there is a requirement on the new employer to establish a new pension plan on day one for the new hires. The issue is that once that new pension plan has been imposed, it makes it that much more difficul

Natural Resources committee  Our concern, in general, is that the pension benefit we currently enjoy will be subsequently diminished with the new employer. That is our main concern. What we would like to see with the three-year transitional coverage is that we have the opportunity to negotiate a new and fa

Natural Resources committee  As I stated in my opening remarks, our request for the new hires, the ones hired post share transfer, is that that they be allowed to participate under the public service pension plan for the same three-year transitional period.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you. I would agree with Dr. Walker on the recruitment aspects, the facilities and the job opportunities that are presented, but once employees are at Chalk River or the other sites, they stay for the pension, the other benefits, and the continued salary. These are importan

Natural Resources committee  Thank you. Again the concern is with the perception by employees. As Dr. Walker mentioned, the top concern among current employees is pensions. We expect the new employees to have the same concerns. Again, as you mentioned, the concern is what the market will bear. Once the thre

Natural Resources committee  I would agree with you. If the replacement pension plan were to be of greater benefit, obviously there would be no concern. The concern is that the new pension plan will be imposed on employees, and the union-represented groups will not have the opportunity to negotiate with the

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am joined today by Mr. Vince Frisina, vice-president of the Chalk River Professional Employees Group, and Mr. Steve Hindle, vice-president of PIPSC. Our union represents almost 900 engineers, scientists, and technicians at the Chalk River and Whiteshell