Sysco Minister Confirms Commitment With Union
The province is meeting its commitment to honour the enhanced pension/severance agreement for Sysco steelworkers, including the extension of the offer to workers slated to work for Duferco. This commitment was re-stated in a letter sent today to the union.
"We are keeping our commitment to steelworkers," said Economic Development Minister Gordon Balser. "We felt it was important to re-state our intention to them directly in writing, given recent comments and questions from some union members."
The agreement was ratified by the union last October. Originally, it provided all workers with a pension or severance, with the exception of those individuals going to work for Duferco.
When Duferco notified the province that it did not intend to complete the transaction to purchase Sydney Steel, government committed to honour the October agreement. In addition, government also agreed to extend the offer to potential Duferco workers within the $20 million envelope existing in Sysco's bank account.
As a result, the agreement now includes all workers on the union's seniority list. This totals approximately 800 workers, 575 of whom will receive pensions and 225 of whom will receive severance.
"The rules that were ratified by the union in October are the same rules that apply today," said the minister. "The only difference is that the agreement now covers all workers. Everyone will receive either a pension or a severance. There is no intention to renegotiate the agreement that was ratified by an overwhelming majority of members."
The province is instructing the pension/severance administrators to proceed to make full severance and pension payments. It will also top up interim payments made to workers identified as facing financial hardship. Individual meetings will be held with severance recipients to determine how they wish to receive their payment.
To facilitate the process, the Minister of Finance will be asked to establish a fund as outlined in the legislation that amended the Sydney Steel Act.