Toronto Hydro lawsuit is outrageous: CUPE

The president of CUPE Ontario thinks the lawsuit launched by Toronto Hydro against OMERS that seeks to overturn the decision to limit a newly in force contribution cap is an “outrageous attack on the pensions of hard-working Ontarians.

“That Toronto Hydro executives are using the hard-earned dollars Torontonians pay for electricity to sue the OMERS pension plan because they want their ludicrous and exclusive corporate bonuses to count towards their pensions is outrageous,” said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario.

CUPE Ontario represents the largest single group of workers in the OMERS Pension Plan. The average pension for a CUPE retiree from OMERS is approximately $14,000 a year.

“The hard-working school secretaries, hydro linepersons, paramedics and child care workers who are members of the OMERS Pension Plan deserve retirement security and shouldn’t have to foot the bill for CEO bonuses,” said Hahn.

“There isn’t a school caretaker in the province who could imagine making the $549,910 that Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines earned in salary and bonuses in 2009,” said Hahn. “They don’t want the hard-earned money they contribute to OMERS paying out pensions based on executives’ massive corporate bonuses.”

He added, “This is another example of high paid CEO’s who feel entitled to ludicrous bonuses and do not care if including them in pensionable income adversely affects hard-working Ontarians. It was this mindset that caused the economic crisis in the first place.”

Related links:
Toronto Hydro sues OMERS over contribution cap: updated