Health-care workers at SickKids Hospital in Toronto are outraged by their employer’s recent announcement that it will continue its “pension holiday” rather than improve retirement benefits for its staff.
Last week, SickKids announced that it will not be paying into the staff pension plan for yet another year – it has only contributed to the plan twice since 1997. Workers are frustrated about being the sole contributors, resulting in a plan that doesn’t offer financial security in retirement.
“I have worked at the hospital for 36 years and am extremely disheartened by SickKids’ decision. Healthcare workers deserve security for their future, and this ongoing disregard for our rights is simply unacceptable. Although this move is deeply hurtful, it will only strengthen our commitment to fighting for a fair pension plan,” said Leonora Foster, president of CUPE 2816.
This announcement follows a protest that workers held in September calling on SickKids to switch plans to join the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, HOOPP. SickKids is one of only two hospitals in the province that has yet to join HOOPP and operates its own plan.
“Workers at SickKids dedicate their lives to providing exceptional care for our children, and they deserve to retire with dignity and financial stability. But their employer would rather take a pension holiday than improve retirement benefits for workers. SickKids should do right by these workers by joining the HOOPP pension plan. We will continue to stand together to make sure they do,” said JP Hornick, president of OPSEU/SEFPO.
Although SickKids says it is in conversations with HOOPP, staff are skeptical as the hospital told them the same thing two years ago.
Based on analysis commissioned by health care unions, HOOPP is far superior to the SickKids’ staff pension plan. A worker earning $45,000 at the end of their career with 30 years of service can expect to receive annual payments of $25,560 through HOOPP, about $8,000 more than their current plan.
“These nurses and health-care professionals deserve to be recognized and compensated fairly for the work they do, now and when they retire. SickKids needs to do the right thing and join HOOPP, alongside nearly every other hospital in this province,” said Erin Ariss, registered nurse and provincial president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association.
Legally, owing to the surplus in the plan, SickKids has no obligation to contribute to the plan. But workers say it is an ethically dubious choice to make when the hospital could make a real difference in the lives of the workers by simply making contributions and offering a better plan.
“This ongoing suspension of pension contributions is just shameful. The decision to not contribute to the pension plan undermines the hard work and commitment of those who have dedicated their careers to caring for children and condemns them to retire into poverty,” said Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions.
In response to this announcement, staff at the hospital will hold a holiday-themed rally on December 3.