CWA Canada protects pensions & contracts amid Saltwire collapse

The collapse of Saltwire Network Inc. has left many CWA Canada members and pensioners deeply concerned about impending cuts and the state of the Halifax Chronicle Herald pension plan.

The court in the insolvency process has approved a deal between Fiera, a financial company that is Saltwire’s major debt holder, and Postmedia, a Toronto-based company that owns and manages media properties across the country.

While the fact that a company is coming forward to take over a number of Saltwire’s operations is good news, unfortunately it will also involve some job cuts.

In an insolvency proceeding, unions are not usually creditors and so do not usually play much or any role. That is the situation here. The union did not choose this deal between Fiera and Postmedia or the terms of the deal. In fact, we had, and have, no say as to which Saltwire properties Postmedia chose to purchase or how many employees it chooses to retain.

What we have ensured is that in the Saltwire operations that Postmedia is acquiring, where our union has bargaining rights and collective agreements, those will continue under Postmedia. In other words, the union has ensured that our collective agreements are protected.

Though we did not have much leverage in this process, we were also able to negotiate an important win: some of the money owed by Saltwire to the Chronicle Herald pension plan will be paid.

And while the Chronicle Herald pension plan will be wound up, pensions are protected. The Herald plan is a “closed plan” that Saltwire has been administering with no on-going new contributions being made by employees for a number of years. With Saltwire going out of business, the plan would be wound up according to the legislation that governs pension plans. That means the plan’s assets are used to purchase annuities for all the plan members. These annuities will provide the plan members with payments that are comparable to the pension benefits that the pension plan has been providing or would provide.

To be very clear, pension plans are highly regulated and are not under the control of the union. Information about these changes will be provided to members by the pension plan administrator.

Union members who continue to be employed at the Saltwire operations that Postmedia is acquiring will continue to be covered by the union’s collective agreement and will continue to participate in pension plans.

Employees who are in a Saltwire pension plan will be transferred to a comparable multi-employer plan. Employees that are already in a multi-employer plan will continue in their existing plans. In a similar way, employees will be transferred from Saltwire benefit plans to Postmedia plans that provide comparable coverage.

CWA Canada was also able to negotiate a lump sum payment to be paid to the union. The union intends to use this money to assist employees who lose their jobs. There will be more details about this after Postmedia announces its restructuring plan which is expected soon.

We believe we got the best deal possible. The alternative was to end up with nothing extra on the pension, face bigger concessions – and likely the shutdown of the newspapers.

We are grateful to everyone involved who worked to secure these protections, including the executive members of the Halifax Typographical Union (CWA Canada Local 30130).

Media workers and union members across the country share the deep disappointment of what has happened at Saltwire. Losing or downsizing any media organization is always a big blow, especially in this environment where quality news is so needed and appreciated.

CWA Canada continues to invest its considerable resources to improve and protect the working conditions and lives of workers in this critical industry.

Carmel Smyth

President, CWA Canada

The Media Union