Presented by Ken Georgetti on Wednesday, 21 October 2009

(Check Against Delivery)

Friends,

The Canadian Labour Congress is proud to support your tireless campaign for fairness, for your right to retire with dignity and respect – a right every Canadian should have!

But what these Nortel executives are doing to you is simply disgusting.

Only vampires could take these cruel actions – because no normal person could rip-off your pension and still sleep at night.

And it’s one rule for ordinary employees and quite another for the big shot executives.

Let’s remember: while Nortel cries “poverty” this company has $2.6 billion in cash and up to $6 billion in cash after all its business sales.

Nortel can afford to pay your pensions and severance pay – but they don't want to – so Nortel executives and their rich friends can benefit at your expense.

It’s not right, it’s not fair and it’s not acceptable in Canada! Nortel was built by your contributions, and they have an obligation to you. If Nortel won’t fulfil that obligation, the people in this building behind me have to.

It’s about time the federal Conservative government woke up and got tough with Nortel and other companies flagrantly stealing workers’ money!

The Nortel rip-off is being repeated with Abitibi-Bowater in Newfoundland, with Trenton Works in Nova Scotia, with the steel industry in Ontario, and with the forestry industry in British Columbia.

It may happen next to workers at CanWest Global.

And we have to put a stop to it – right now!

No worker should be robbed of their pensions and retirement benefits.

It’s our money – not theirs!

Pensions and retirement benefits don’t belong to the companies – they are deferred earnings that belong to workers!
What’s happening is greed is winning out over need.

That’s why the Canadian Labour Congress is demanding the Stephen Harper government step in to protect our pensions, not drive the corporate get-away car!

The CLC wants a national pension insurance system to protect workers’ pensions and benefits from corporate greed.

We want the same protection that already exists in the United States and many other countries.

After a lifetime of service to Nortel, and contributions to Canada’s economy, you deserve that kind of pension security.

Our pensions aren’t a corporate piggy-bank to be broken open when businesses get into trouble.

No bondholder, Bay Street lawyer, or bankruptcy trustee should be able to steal your pension.

We will fight on your behalf and on behalf of all other workers whose pensions are at risk.

And with your help, we will make pensions a federal election issue and hold Ottawa’s feet to the fire.

We won’t stop fighting until all Canadian workers get the retirement security they deserve.

So please sign up for the CLC’s campaign for pension security – help us help you and all workers who face the loss of retirement benefits.

We will keep you informed and when the next federal election is called, we will mobilize workers like yourselves who are fighting for pension security to attend all-candidates meetings right across Canada.

And long before that, we will be holding pension events to keep our momentum for change going.

Please see the CLC staff here who have sign-up sheets – I urge you to add your name and help us get the change you deserve.

Thanks again for your courage to stand up for what’s right and for having me here today.