This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Montreal’s firefighters have decided to sacrifice their jobs rather than accepting any possible compromise on their pension plans. A report confirms that almost 200 firefighters have formally filed for retirement this week in response to Bill 3, i.e. a provincial legislation asking unions and cities to renegotiate funding agreements for pension plans. Even though the legislation was just tabled in the National Assembly this week and is nowhere near becoming law, introducing it was enough to scare the civil servants into applying for retirement.
Municipal Affairs Minister, Pierre Moreau, mentioned in his remarks that firefighters, police officers, and other civil servants should give their opinions instead of quitting. He explained that “the bill was tabled yesterday. They will have a parliamentary commission for hearings during the summer.” Furthermore, Moreau alleged that the city of Montreal’s pension plan is running a $1.6 billion deficit, and so anyone who thinks that can continue is not being reasonable. He stated that “they should come, tell us what they think, tell us what they want and let’s say something quite clearly: we won’t change the target that we have, to settle the situation and to pay the deficit that exists in the pension plans.”
According to the proposed law, cities and their unions will be allowed a period of 18 months to reach a deal to improve pension plan funding, with an additional six months of arbitration in case they fail. Currently Montreal taxpayers pay 70 percent of pension costs for civil servants, with employees paying the remaining 30 percent.
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