Unions claim victory
Senate stalls pension reform bill

Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 25/99) - Yellowknife union leaders are celebrating a victory over Ottawa in a battle to hang on to their pension plan.

On June 17, the federal senate voted to delay passing a government bill that proposes to replace the pension plan of public-sector workers and to absorb its approximately $30-billion surplus.

"The senate chose a most appropriate occasion to fulfil its mandate as the chamber of sober second thought," said Jean-Francois Des Lauriers, the Yellowknife-based regional director for the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

"We're not opposed to pension reform," said Des Lauriers on Wednesday, "but we feel the surplus should be used to improve the pensions of the current beneficiaries."

The alliance says the bill affects some 10,000 current and retired workers across the North -- including government employees, teacher, Canada Post employees, the RCMP and the military.

The alliance staged a street protest earlier this year outside the Yellowknife constituency office of Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew in an effort to raise awareness of the union's battle.

Jayne Regimbald, who works for Environment Canada and is president of Local 30725 Environment Component, said she and her colleagues welcomed the news of the senate vote.

"We were very happy that they have decided to look at the issue a little more clearly," she said.

Regimbald said they were even wondering if the senators' own age and considerations of retirement didn't contribute to their decision.

"We were discussing it during the break and thinking that since most of the senators figure they might be retiring soon, the bill might have an impact on them or on people they know," she said.