Greetings GardaWorld YYC workers:

There have been questions surrounding Unifor’s positions on pension plan options.

We’d like to be clear on what we have to offer, so you can make an informed decision.

What type of pension plan does Unifor offer?

Unifor represents over 16,000 members across the air transport sector in Canada ranging from Air Canada, Jazz Air, Sunwing Airlines, Porter or West Jet to NAV Canada and the Greater Toronto Airport Authority. 

As Canada’s largest private sector union, Unifor negotiates pension and retirement savings plans with major employers across multiple sectors with a wide diversity of plan types. – We have the largest Pension & Benefits department of any union in Canada, which supports Unifor members in their negotiations to ensure that we are successful in   securing an adequate lifetime income in retirement. Those options include:

• Defined Benefit (DB) plans in which Unifor members at Greater Toronto Airport Authority participate
• Defined Contribution (DC) plans in which Unifor members at West Jet participate
• Group RRSP plans in which Unifor members at GardaWorld Regina participate
• RRSP contributions which Unifor members at A.S.P. Security (at YYZ) participate receive.

What pension does Unifor guarantee?

Unifor is a democratic member driven organization and we believe that our members know what is best for them, that is why Unifor is committed to working with the members and elected bargaining committee at GardaWorld YYC to build on the existing $1.20 employer contribution towards your retirement. 

With the support of members, we are confident that we can negotiate an increase in the employer contribution over the term of the new collective agreement and improve the member voluntary contribution – to include a matching employer contribution as an example. 

More significantly, we would support moving to a more appropriate plan design and administrator – giving members a greater say in their investment choices and retirement future beyond the current default target date fund. 

Our commitment is to support members at YYC in negotiating a plan that remains funded by the employer and offers members a more secure and adequate level of retirement income – including providing post-retirement guarantees of lifetime income, such as through life annuity options.

Unifor guarantees that members will have a greater say in designing their pension plan and will decide democratically on any changes.

Unifor is committed to providing more effective and democratic representation, changing unions will finally be behind you. Moving forward with Unifor means making changes and improvements to your pension, benefits or working conditions will not require you to change unions.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us through the contact below.

Bruce Fafard // [email protected] // 587-341-0945

Justin Gniposky // [email protected] // 416-275-6389