Posted: Wednesday, 1 September 2010

By Ken Georgetti

Canadian workers have celebrated their achievements on Labour Day ever since it was declared a national holiday in 1894. Last year on this day the Canadian Labour Congress launched a campaign to help everyone save enough to cover the basics when they retire – and that campaign continues.

We are facing a pension crisis in Canada. Most Canadians cannot save enough live with dignity in retirement. Sixty per cent of workers have no workplace pension at all. The economic crisis and recession have left people's savings in tatters. Pension plans are under attack. RRSPs have been exposed as inadequate for the vast majority of working people.

Fortunately there is a solution at hand. Almost every working person in our country already has access to the safest, most secure and guaranteed retirement savings plan in the world through the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans. During the current economic crisis nobody's CPP cheque decreased and nobody's CPP savings disappeared. But, the CPP is capped and only allows people to save enough to cover a maximum of 25% of the average wage. That's not enough for anyone to live on today.

During the past year, unions along with retiree and citizens’ groups have been calling for a gradual doubling of future benefits under the CPP. A modest increase in contributions will produce thousands of dollars a year in extra benefits for workers when they retire. This represents first-rate retirement saving at a low cost for Canadian workers. The CPP is safe, secure, and indexed and its management costs are lower than those charged by the private financial service institutions on RRSPs.

We have encouraged union members to talk to their friends and neighbours about pensions. They did, and our campaign is paying off. At a meeting in June, the country's finance ministers agreed that the best way to help Canadians save more for retirement is through the CPP. Mayors and city councillors meeting at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention in May also called for improvements to the CPP.

Workers make up the majority of Canada's voters. Politicians who would ignore the voices of so many people do so at their peril. In just one year we have moved the federal and many provincial and territorial governments away from their previous positions on how to fix Canada's retirement security crisis and to accept a public policy that will benefit the vast majority of Canadians.

But we must keep the pressure on. It's time to move our country forward. Canadians have been consulted. The experts have had their say. Canada's finance ministers agree that allowing people to save more through an expanded CPP is the simplest and the smartest start to providing real retirement security for everyone. There is no longer any excuse for delaying improvements to the CPP. Let’s get the job done.

Ken Georgetti is president of the 3.2 million member Canadian Labour Congress.