You're receiving this as a BCGEU member of the Municipal Pension Plan.

As you may be aware, the Municipal Pension Plan (MPP) has announced potential changes to the plan and is currently seeking stakeholder feedback on a proposed redesign, by October 23. 

Despite being the fourth largest union in the MPP and representing thousands of pension-contributing members, the BCGEU is not one of the "Plan Partner" unions and does not have a seat on the plan's Board of Trustees (who are ultimately responsible for redesign decisions). As a result, we were not formally included in the proposed redesign and did not get to vote directly or independently on it. 
We have been asking the board and partners for years to give the BCGEU representation that is commensurate with the relative size of our membership in the MPP. Nevertheless, our union's pension experts have repeatedly communicated BCGEU members' needs in any future plan redesign.

It is important for you to know that our union supports some aspects of the proposed redesign, in particular the move to what is called the "flat rate of accrual." This is something we've been advocating for members for years, and it means that most new members joining the plan will retire with a superior pension. Our union also supports the notion of a Health Care Trust for retirees.

However, the BCGEU overall opposes the proposal because of three particular concessions that fail BCGEU members:

• When the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) was redesigned, BCGEU members received 12 years of 0.3 per cent accrual below the YMPE (Year Maximum Pensionable Earnings). In comparison, the MPP's proposed redesign offers no retroactive increase. We think it should, and we believe it would offset the loss of the Bridge benefit for members retiring in the next five to 10 years.
   
• We have been demanding for years that the MPP Board rebalance the contribution rates, and they are proposing to wait until 2022 to do so, instead of implementing these much needed changes for fairness in 2021.
   
• The Plan Partners agreed to a 0.5 per cent of payroll break in contributions for the employer only. This is unacceptable for us, and it is a concession we refused in the Public Service Pension Plan redesign.
   

As an MPP member, if you are upset with the proposed redesign, or have any questions about how it will impact your pension personally, we encourage you to use this online form by October 23 to communicate your concerns or questions to the MPP partners and Board of Trustees, and to demand a seat on the Board for the BCGEU. The online form takes only a minute to complete, and you'll find more of our research and reasoning on the site.

In solidarity,

Paul Finch, BCGEU Treasurer
Andrea Duncan, Vice President, Component 3 (Community Social Services)
Mahen Ramdharry, Vice President, Component 4 (Health Services)
Cindy Battersby, Vice President, Component 7 (Education, Scientific, Technical & Administrative)
Scott De Long, Vice President, Component 8 (Community Health Services)
Dave MacDonald, Vice President, Component 17 (General Services)

UWU/MoveUP