NDP Calls on Government to Protect Nuclear Workers' Pensions

OTTAWA – Today, NDP MP Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona) and members of unions representing workers from federal nuclear plants are delivering over 1000 letters to the President of the Treasury Board. These letters are from workers protesting their removal from their pension plan. The NDP is calling on the government to reverse this decision and protect the pensions of these workers.

“When workers choose to work for the nuclear industry, a reliable pension is an important part of their decision. They depend on this income for their retirement. This is a classic example of government privatization hurting Canadian workers and putting retirement security in jeopardy,” said Daniel Blaikie, NDP Treasury Board Critic. Blaikie was accompanied by representatives from the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada and the Canadian Association of Nuclear Workers.

Since the Harper Conservatives restructured the Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, its assets have been managed with a government-owned and contractor-operated model. This new process created the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), which is the organization that is affected by this issue. On September 2015, new CNL employees were told that they would not be enrolled in the Public Service Pension Plan, while the thousands of existing employees would be removed from the plan as of September 2018.

“Canada’s nuclear industry cannot retain highly-skilled professionals with all this uncertainty about their retirement security. If the Liberal government is truly committed to helping Canadian workers and growing the middle class, it will make the necessary changes to allow all CNL employees to remain in the Public Service Pension Plan. Time is running out, and action must be taken now,” said Blaikie.