United for a decent pension plan: Staff at SickKids rally for same deal as other Ontario hospital workers
September 16, 2024
TORONTO – Staff at SickKids Hospital organized a demonstration today, calling on the employer to join the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP). The call comes after workers became aware that their current pension will leave them retiring in poverty because the employer failed to contribute to the plan for decades.
SickKids is set to become the only hospital in Ontario whose employees are not part of HOOPP, which has more than 460,000 health-care workers in the plan.
The group of workers including nurses, patient service aides, clerical staff, lab technicians and others wants their employer to give them the pension plan they deserve. According to the workers, 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.
Leonora Foster, a patient service aide and president of CUPE 2816, says that she and her colleagues have repeatedly brought up the pension issue, but hospital management is resistant to change.
Based on research done by the unions, SickKids has been on a “pension holiday” as it has not made contributions to the pension plan for 25 out of the last 27 years.
“For years now, we have been calling on SickKids to do the right thing and join HOOPP,” said Leonora Foster, president of CUPE 2816, which represents about 670 staff at the hospital. “HOOPP is a superior pension plan that offers workers a dignified retirement. Other hospitals provide it, and there is absolutely no reason for SickKids to stick to its own poverty-inducing pension plan. All the workers here are united in our fight for a decent pension plan, and that means SickKids must join HOOPP.”
“The Ontario Nurses’ Association and our 68,000 members are in solidarity with SickKids workers fighting for a decent pension and retirement security. After taking care of our most vulnerable community members, health-care workers deserve to retire with dignity. SickKids and the board of directors have a responsibility to ensure that,” said Erin Ariss, registered nurse and Ontario Nurses' Association provincial president.
“SickKids staff dedicate their lives to supporting our most vulnerable children, and they deserve real financial security in their retirement. SickKids must take these workers’ futures seriously by joining the HOOPP pension plan. We will stand together and demand it!” said JP Hornick, president of OPSEU.
“This hospital built its reputation as a world-class institution on the strength of the contribution of these women. SickKids must ensure its staff don’t retire into poverty,” says Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE).
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