A Newsletter for Members of YURA – No 3 – March 2002
New Office: 101
Central Square Prepared by Members of YURA Executive
This is the 3rd edition of this
non-electronic medium. The 2nd appeared in March 2001. Published by
the York University Retirees Association.
|
YURA
APPROACHING A CRISIS? The
Executive Committee of YURA faces serious vacancies. There is no VP to
succeed Albert Tucker who has already extended his presidency into a third
year. There is no Secretary (Ken
Thomson has temporarily added Acting Secretary to his many other functions).
We have no Chair for the Nominating Committee, nor a Programme Co-Ordinator
to assist Pearl Kroll. YURA can hardly continue to function without an
effective Executive Committee. Please
consider being a volunteer. If you are interested, phone Pearl at Ex.70664,
or speak to any member of the Executive Committee. |
Pension Plan Governance
In September 2001 all members of YURA received a 10
page, small green booklet entitled “A Description of the Governance of the York
University Pension Plan” This had been prepared by Leona Fields, Manager,
Pension Fund with assistance from John Becker, YURA member. A few copies are
still available in the YURA office. The contents remain accurate except for the
membership of the various committees. For instance Frances Bukovec has replaced
Diane Taylor as the YURA member on the All University Committee on Pensions
(AUCP). See the YURA executive list for contact numbers for all reps and
executive members.
What’s Coming Up in 2002?
2002 is proving to be another eventful year for our
members. Please remember that all out-of-town trips come with YURA
chartered bus service.
•Fitness (twice a week) to the enjoyment of all has
added a few more to their numbers.
•Niagara on the Lake - Caesar & Cleopatra on
Wednesday, 24 April; price TBA
•Walk with John Warkentin in & around the U of T
area: Thursday, 23 May; rain or shine; start time & meeting spot TBA.
•Casino Rama -
Thursday, 6 June.
•Stratford Festival - King Lear, Thursday, 6
September, price TBA
•Computer programs will be offered again and start
dates will be announced by mail.
Change
in Mortality Table to Determine Pension Benefits
Many of you are aware of the
controversy about mortality tables. All pensions everywhere are based on
predictions of how long people are going to live. As life expectancy increases
this change is reflected in updated mortality tables. Actuaries advise about
these changes and recommend ways of keeping pension plans financially healthy
in the face of long living retirees.
The proposal that was made to the
York Pension Plan was to reduce annual pension increments by 0.25% to cover
costs due to longer living retirees. This was accepted for only those who
retire after 1 January 2001. Existing retirees are not affected.
It
should be noted that this discussion about revised life expectancy is not new to
York. A revised mortality table was adopted by York in the early 1990s and
phased in over 3 years. And, similar to now, at that time no reduction in
existing annual pension increments was required.
There
is no escaping the fact however that, as our life expectancy increases, the
contributions we and the university have made to the pension plan (which are
only altered by fund earnings after we retire) must be spread over more years
the longer we live. But with luck changes to mortality tables will continue!
YURA
Membership Counts
YURA
membership as of February 22, 2002 is:
CPM
50
CUEW/CUPE
3903 2
CUPE
[1356 & 1356-01] 22
IUOE 2
OHFA 1
RASOC 3
RASST
2
YUFA 172
YUSA 132
Spouses
& Others 12
Total: 398
Retirement
Planning Centre
Karen
Gray and How Chee Un are the helpful staff
of the RPC and may be reached at 416-736-2100 e.66228; email
<retire@yorku.ca>; 101 Central Square.
They offer a wide range of programs dealing
with financial planning, computer skills, recreation and many other topics.
The
Executive 2001-2002
Contact
any of the executive for more information about the YURA.
Albert
Tucker, president
416-921-1887;
atucker@gl.yorku.ca
Ken Thomson,
past president
416-241-6331;
kthomson@yorku.ca
Heather
McIndless, 905-771-5241
Frances
Bukovec * Pension Board of Trustees & All Univ. Pension Committee,
416-633-2225, fbukovec@yorku.ca
Pearl Kroll,
YURA Communications *
416-496-0261;
pkroll@yorku.ca
Alex Murray,
416-924-1588; amurray @yorku.ca
Betty
Peckover 905-888-1291
Bill
Echard, 905-889-5216; gechard @yorku.ca
Catherine
Ng, treasurer, 416-638-0737; ngc@yorku.ca
Diane
Taylor, 905-936-5133; taylor5133@rogers.com
Ex
Officio:
John Becker,
newsletter
416-932-1754;
jbecker@interlog.com
Sandra
Aiken 705-456-6474; jwaiken@ sympatico.ca
*
Also available during the day at the YURA Office in 101 Central Square;
416-736-2100 e.70664
All
University Group on Benefits
Ken
Thomson has been active with this “sometimes here & sometimes there” group
since the very beginning back in 1996. The idea was that the various employee
groups at York would join in discussions about the “non-pension benefits”. Not
all employee groups have recognized the value of such information sharing and
the group has never achieved “official” status although Thomson, Murray and
Bukovec, all of the YURA executive, continue to campaign for such information
sharing. Not surprisingly York is ambivalent about dealing with such group in
any official way. Reason: all employee groups have in the past negotiated
separately for “non-pension benefits”. Unlike pensions which follow the same
formula for all retirees regardless of their employee group (union, non-union,
faculty, staff, et al.), “non-pension benefits” [extended health, vision care,
dental, etc.] vary from group to group and then vary again after retirement!
And the funding of these benefits is entirely different from the pension
benefits which are derived from a contributory invested trust fund. For non-faculty employees and retirees the
university’s “Non-pension benefits” are paid for by the university and are not
contributory. (Faculty are part of a contributory system before and after
retirement.) Work continues on a chart which attempts to compare and contrast
the post-retirement “non-pension benefits” of all retired members of all
employee groups but since some groups bargain for changes when their contract
comes up for renewal, the chart is a “moving target”. When Ken Thomson
concludes his work on it representatives of the various employee groups (and
their retired members too) may be stimulated to meet more regularly to share
more information.
Footnote:
See the last newsletter for info on a
YURA Sub-Committee on Post-Retirement Benefits [extended health, vision care,
dental, etc.] which included a YURA Executive member from each of YUFA, CPM and
YUSA.
Activities
and Programs in 2001
A
Recap
•The
fitness program was successfully ongoing in 2001.
•Niagara
on the Lake on 8 June to see the Millionairess [sold out].
•Computer
programs were offered in May, June, October and December 2001.
•Showcase
2001 was held 7 November in conjunction with the 15th Anniversary of
YURA and was a great success.
•A
Cook Book was published & sold by “the YURA team” in
recognition of the 15th Anniversary of YURA.
•Stratford
Festival on 7 September to see Twelfth Night [sold out].
•"Lilactree
Farm" & "Boyne Mill Garden" Garden Tour & Rural
Landscape
Excursion,
on 3 July.
•Tour
of Early Toronto Religious Structures on 24 October.
More on Pensions & Benefits
“Shadow Pension” and the “Non-Reduction
Provision” have recently become hot topics and deserve some definition.
These terms are entwined together. First, there has always been a concept of a
“shadow pension”, properly known as the “pension payable”, running in parallel
with the actual “pension paid” when the four-year average earnings of the Fund
are insufficient to pay “the same pension as was paid the previous year” and comply
with the “Non-Reduction Provision”. Because of this provision, funds must be
found elsewhere to pay the current year pensions. Both the non-reduced “pensions paid” and the
lower “pension payable” are thereafter tracked, and there is no increase in pensions
actually paid until the cumulative “pension payable” catches up and passes the
cumulative “pension paid” figure. In
other words, any earnings which will permit increases are applied to the “debt”
and until that is cleared, the “pension paid” is effectively “red-circled”.
These funds are “borrowed” from a
special fund created by the university as of January 1,1992 which saw their
contribution to the pension fund increased by 3% of members’ contributions.
This change was specifically designed to buttress the Non-Reduction provision
and was the direct result of a Revenue Canada ruling that disallowed a previous
practice of using the surplus from the “Minimum Guarantee Fund” to fund, if
necessary, the Non-Reduction provision. The university costs obviously
increased materially in 1992 while the cost to employees remained unchanged.
Some
wonder if “the shadow pension” ever
resulted in zero increments to York pensions. We have no information that it
has ever come to that. And there is no indication that this will happen in 2002
– even though earnings on the fund in the recent past have been quite modest!
Nomenclature
for Retirees
All
of this recent discussion about various kinds of benefits and pensions suggests
to this writer that we would benefit from some nomenclature conventions. Here
is my attempt to clarify things.
A.
Non Pension Benefits
“Benefits”
is a word we may reserve for non-pension benefits such as extended health care,
vision care, dental care, etc. These benefits differ from one employee group to
another and are often bargained for by their unions. They are for employees and
retirees alike although in most cases the range of benefits change downwards
when a person retires. For non-faculty, these benefits are funded by the
university; they are not contributory. There are no contributions to a “trust
fund” which pays for these benefits. There is currently no formal way that a
retired staff person can bargain with the university about their benefits. YURA
is perhaps not a suitable group for this since it is composed of people from
all employee groups. Some unions have admitted retirees to their discussions on
current bargaining priorities but this is not yet common. In contrast, faculty
are part of a contributory plan for non-pension benefits as are retired
faculty. In addition retired faculty have established a separate trust fund
(managed through YUFA) which supports some supplementary benefits. Their plans
are more complex.
B.
Pensions
The
benefit we receive from the Pension Plan is “a pension”. To say “a
pension benefit” is redundant and we can well do without it. The pension
received by a retiree is the same regardless of employee group. That is,
it is determined by wage level and length of service factors, not by one’s role
in the university. The pensions are funded by a contributory trust fund to
which both the university and the employee contribute. There are a number of
provincial and federal laws which govern these trust funds. Investment
practices and market forces also determine the size of one’s pension on
retirement.
The
Board of Governors of York is the “owner” of the Pension Plan and the trust
which supports the pensions. Employees receive no pensions. Only retired
persons receive a pensions. Notwithstanding this, employees have substantial
representation on advisory committees which comment regularly on the Pension
Plan. The booklet on the Governance of the York University Pension Plan
[September 2001] sets out the composition of two representative committees on which
various employee groups and retirees are represented. These are the main
vehicles through which employees and retirees communicate with the university
about the Pension Plan.
Since
there is only one Pension Plan for all, there is no formal union bargaining
about pension arrangements. If individual employee groups influence the
university to alter pension arrangements, those changes would likely apply
simultaneously to all other employee groups
John
Becker