The Communist Party of Canada supports the municipal employees of Québec and demands the withdrawal of Bill 3 which attacks their pension rights.
Citing the fear of pension fund deficits due to the improved life expectancy of workers, Bill 3 would tear up collective agreements, and force renegotiation by setting advance concessions that workers must accept. With good reason, the unions argue that such imposed negotiations will be artificial, and that the Bill is an attack on freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Bill 3 covers all Québec municipalities, affecting 170 retirement plans, 50,000 retirees and 122 000 participants, even though these plans are not actually in financial difficulty.
Notably, the bill affects retired workers, by suspending indexation of their pensions. In addition, it imposes a limit on contributions paid by municipal employees to fund their pension plans, and requires them to pay half of the deficits accumulated by their employers.
If there is a deficit in these pension plans, the true causes are poor financial returns caused by the economic crisis of 2008, and the contribution holidays given to employers. By giving municipalities the authority to pay their employees their contractual debts, the government is engaged in robbery, retroactively imposing lower wages.
On the other hand, a firm of independent actuaries, the only one to report during parliamentary committee hearings on Bill 3, disputes the method of calculating municipal pension deficits used by the government. According to the company, the plans are not at all in the red.
In reality, by filing Bill 3, the Couillard government is rushing to meet the wishes of municipalities, especially the mayors of Montreal and Québec City, to reduce their payrolls. The government admits that this is only the beginning, since negotiations will begin shortly for renewal of the collective agreements of 500,000 public and para‑public sector employees in Québec. In its latest austerity budget, the government has made clear its intention to freeze its payroll.
To support its attack against the municipal employees pension fund, the government is trying to pit workers in the public sector ‑ who are largely unionized ‑ against those in the private sector who are not. Premier Couillard claims that the pensions of public sector employees are privileges, forcibly paid by the majority of non‑unionized private sector workers who do not receive any supplemental pension plan. But this is an illusion since the attack against unionised public sector employees is actually the prelude to a general attack against the entire working class in Québec.
The supplementary pension plans are funded, often exclusively, from the contributions levied on the wages of the employees. The benefits often leave recipients in poverty. The average pension of retired blue‑collar workers in Montreal amounts to only $24,000 per year, including benefits from the Québec Pension Board and the Federal Security pension old age.
When the public pension plans were established in the 1960s, the financial companies and employers were strongly opposed to government programs which would provide a greater share of income. They wanted to establish private supplemental plans that would provide large reserves of financial liquidity, and allow them to exercise greater control over their employees . Governments were quick to comply.
Consequently, public plans, annuities, Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement together currently only amount to 44% of the average wage in Québec. Canada is one of the lowest countries in the OECD, where the average coverage is 54%.
The cynicism of the government has no limit. As he is about to rob the working people, Couillard plans to increase remuneration for Members of the National Assembly by $46,000, in exchange for reducing their generous pension plan and eliminating their golden handshakes. Recall that the pension plan for MNAs is one of the most generous in Canada. Currently, a member may withdraw at age 60, with a full pension of up to 100% of the base salary (about $90,000 per year), plus other remuneration for participation in various parliamentary committees.
The fight has only just begun and will intensify. The City of Montreal, with the support of the Québec government, is using intimidation tactics to stop the mobilization. They recently laid criminal charges and took disciplinary action, including suspensions and dismissals, against dozens of demonstrators, who broke into the Hotel de Ville in Montreal on August 18 to show their anger at City Council. The City has specifically targeted Michel Parent, president of Montreal blue collar workers, who was present to speak during public time provided to council. The very militant Montreal union of blue collar workers has declared its intention to oppose Bill 3 by any means necessary, even an indefinite general strike.
The Communist Party demands:
- The withdrawal of Bill 3;
- The withdrawal of all criminal prosecutions and disciplinary actions related to the demonstration of August 18, 2014 at Hotel de Ville of Montreal;
- The establishment of a system of universal public pensions from age 60, guaranteeing a decent income for all.
Bill 3 is part of the general neoliberal attack against the pension rights of all workers in Québec and Canada. Mobilizations against this agenda should be stepped up ‑ the way forward is unity in struggle.
Statement by the Central Committee, Communist Party of Canada, September 13‑14, 2014