Accounting for the transit slowdown

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by PHILIP PREVILLE

Mass transit riders are suffering mass irritation these days as MUCTC maintenance workers continue their bus-repair slowdown, leaving the system 100 buses short every day. But when they find out what the slowdown is about, they're likely to be more irritated still.

The key issue is this: the MUCTC's pension plan account currently has a surplus of $407 million (which means it's way in the black). To save costs, management is proposing that everyone stops contributing to the pension plan for three years (which means no pension deductions on employees' paycheques, and savings of $30 million for management). The union, however, wants the $407 million to be used to beef up pension payouts after employees retire.

The problem, says MUCTC spokesperson Odile Paradis, is that "Our pension plan is one of the most generous plans you'll ever find. As it stands now, when our employees retire, many of them will get a pension equal to their salary." By contrast, many other companies provide pensions equal to half an employee's salary.

The union refuses to back down; management, in turn, is refusing to pay employees for hours not worked because of the slowdown. Bundle up for your wait at the bus stop. :

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