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OPSEU seeks input from members and retirees on how the surplus in the pension plan should be allocated
Toronto (11 August 2008) – Members of the OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust) plan and retirees have been contacted during the past couple of weeks for their input on how the surplus in the pension plan should be allocated.
OPTrust is the defined benefit plan for approximately 45,000 members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) employed in the Ontario public service and certain agencies, boards, commissions an foundations. The plan also has 22,000 current pensioners and 10,000 deferred pensioners and members with a deferred entitlement.
OPTrust has been jointly trusteed and administered by OPSEU and the Government of Ontario for the past 12 years. As plan sponsors, the Government of Ontario and OPSEU each appoint five trustees to OPTrust’s Board of Trustees. The plan had assets of over $14 billion.
The pension plan has realized a substantial surplus. For the three-year period ending December 31, 2007, OPTrust shows a surplus of $470 million, of which $235 million belongs to the members.
The OPSEU Executive Board, in its capacity as plan sponsor, is seeking members’ input on how the money should be allocated. Active members and retirees have been asked to complete an on - line survey. Divested and deferred members of the OPT received a survey in the mail to be completed and returned.
In a letter to members seeking their input, OPSEU President Smokey Thomas noted that the economy is in a turbulent state for the foreseeable future. “We need to strike a balance between what we want today and the overall health of the fund in the future. It might not be prudent to ‘early retire’ some members now and placing tens of thousands of younger members at risk.”
“This is not cause for alarm but it is a cause for caution,” added Thomas. “The purpose of your pension is to realize post-retirement financial security.
OPTrust is a major success story. It is one of the few pension plans in Canada that has successfully maintained contribution rates of 8 percent and delivered full indexation of the pension benefit.