Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 16/00) - In yet another blow to Giant mine's former workforce, pension administrators Morneau Sobeco sent a registered letter to 59 pensioners telling them they're getting 25 per cent less.

The cut will go into effect April 1, 2000.

"As you may be aware, the (Giant) pension plan has been underfunded for several years. Currently, there are not enough assets in the plan to fully satisfy the benefit entitlements of all members and pensioners," said the Morneau Sobeco letter.

"...we estimate there are only sufficient assets to pay out approximately 75 per cent of the benefits of all plan members and pensioners."

For 68-year-old Kurt Lehniger, who was a miner at Giant for 27 of his years, the letter came as a shock. He's been collecting his pension for three years. Now, he'll have to adjust to the cut.

"I never expected this, guys like myself losing 25 per cent of their pension," said Lehniger.

"It's time now for the government to do something --not just for us, but for the future. There needs to be a safety net in place to prevent something like this happening again. You work for 30 years for a company and this is how you get treated."

Lehniger said with his old age pension and Canada Pension Plan (CPP), he brings in about $1,100 a month.

The Giant pension gave him an extra $700 on top of that. As of April 1, he'll have to manage with $175 less.

"That's a lot of money to be losing when you don't have a lot coming in," said Lehniger.

"You can't live in the North on this but you can't just move. I've built a life here. I have to stay, I have no place else to go."

CAW Local 2304 plant chair Steve Petersen doesn't blame the pension administrators, who he believe were just doing their job.

"I don't relish Morneau Sobeco's role in this at all. This is what they have to do based on the reality of the figures," said Petersen.

"What we now know is that our pension fund was underfunded since 1986. There's a federal government office charged with dealing with pensions. What I want to know is why were they not more diligent in protecting our rights?"

So from here, the CAW executive has vowed to fight for their members. At this point, they are focusing their anger on the government.

"Our elected officials should be there for us and like it or not, (Western Arctic MP) Ethel Blondin-Andrew is our elected official," said Petersen.

"It's up to her to act in a humane way to the plight of workers who toiled all their lives to make the North what it is today."

"We don't want anything we don't deserve, we just want the government to resolve this issue."