Presented by Ken Georgetti on Friday, 6 November 2009

(Check Against Delivery)

Sisters and Brothers, it is my honour to bring you greetings of solidarity from the Officers and the 3.2 million workers who are members of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Thanks to President Carl Pursey and your officers for the invitation to speak to you today.

It’s a pleasure to be in PEI once again and to hear firsthand about all the good work your Federation is doing.

I particularly want to congratulate the Federation for its role in the creation of a monument in Summerside that will be unveiled later this year to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the tragic Montreal Massacre on December 6.

This shows how much the labour movement in this province, and indeed across Canada, is involved in social justice well beyond collective bargaining issues.

As you all know, these are troubled economic times.

That’s why it pays to listen to good working class investment advice – not the high-falutin advice you get from guys in $4,000 suits with red suspenders.

Here’s why – if you had invested $1,000 in Lear Corporation at the beginning of 2008 would now be worth just $18.04

The same $1,000 invested in the AIG Group at the beginning of 2008 would only be worth $11.82
Put that $1,000 into Nortel Networks shares and they’d now be valued at only $8.40 – you would have lost 991 dollars and 60 cents!
 
But the working person’s advice is simple and effective – buy and drink $1,000 worth of Molson's Canadian beer.

You’ll feel better about tough times for weeks – and after that – the deposit on all those empty beer bottles is still worth more than all those other shares – a massive $60!

So my investment advice to you is this: keep your assets liquid – and always recycle!

But while it’s amusing to think about investments this way, there is a very serious problem when empty beer bottles are worth more than what were once blue-chip stocks.

I want to talk to you today about what is becoming the most important and the most troubling issue in Canada – the fate of our pensions.

It’s about whether workers will be able to retire with dignity, respect and security in their old age or whether they will face poverty, uncertainty and humiliation.

And I know pensions are a particular sore point here because PEI – amazingly – is the only province in Canada without its own pension legislation.

That has to change and we support the Federation’s efforts to demand that Premier Ghiz and his government bring in provincial pension laws like everywhere else.

Before I say more about pensions, let me first outline the rest of the grim situation working people face with this economic crisis.

Both private and public sector workers are being forced to take pay cuts, to take benefit cuts, to take unpaid holidays, to take fewer hours of work, all to help struggling corporations in this tough economy!

But what are corporations doing to help us – to help workers?

Worse than nothing – they are laying off workers in record numbers.

And they are still taking multi-million dollar salaries and cashing huge bonus cheques.

Our economy is punishing workers who have spent their lives building Canada... and it’s benefiting richly-paid corporate CEOs and bankers and hedge- fund managers, some of whom don’t even live in this country.

That’s just not right.

Sisters and Brothers, the sad truth is that our economy is rewarding greed and ignoring need.

So who do the big media blame for this economic crisis?

Not the bankers. Not the CEOs. Not the wealthy.

No – the big media blame – surprise! – unions!

Here’s what right-wing columnist Terence Corcoran of the National Post newspaper said about public sector pensions – and I quote:

“Why do these giant public pension plans exist? They are, essentially, wealth confiscated by governments.”

Confiscated by governments – and we always thought pensions were the deferred earnings of workers set aside so they could retire with dignity and security!

Corcoran continues: “Hydro workers, police, municipal employees, teachers. All are set to receive relatively lavish pensions paid for by Canadian taxpayers.”

Ah yes, to be a retired unionized worker – flying to Monaco for the winter, washing and waxing the red Ferrari, golf at the exclusive country club – reserved only for retired public sector members to keep out the corporate riff-raff, daily manicure and pedicure – and all thanks to the lavish pension provided by taxpayers!

What a bad joke!

It’s outrageous that commentators like Corcoran and millionaire corporate executives attack the hard-working people who built this country and deserve every last penny of their pensions.

But the greedy, incompetent CEOs who are robbing our economy and who are stealing the future from retiring workers can’t do it alone – they have to have help.

So who’s driving the getaway car?

Right-wing governments that won’t regulate the financial markets, that won’t stop corporate executives from being grossly overpaid even while taxpayers pick up the tab for government bail-outs and who let companies slash pension plans that workers had thought were safe for their retirement.

It’s time we sent those right-wing governments a clear message – you work for us – for ordinary Canadians – not for big business!

And if they don’t get that message – we have to make them pay – at the ballot box!

That’s why the Canadian Labour Congress is working with the PEI Federation of Labour, our affiliates and labour councils to do exactly that – use the ballot box to make sure local, provincial and the federal government are more receptive to the needs of working people.

In the past few years the CLC and our labour councils helped elect more than 800 labour-endorsed mayors, city councilors and school trustees across the country.

Those elected officials are supporting the goals of organized labour, including hiring unionized workers and using local procurement policies.

Federally we still have more work to do but through carefully targeting ridings with large numbers of union workers, the CLC and affiliates helped our ally, the New Democratic Party, win its second highest number of Members of Parliament ever.

And believe me, we need more elected officials standing up for working people than ever before with this economic crisis.

Because we haven’t spent all of our working lives as union members building job security, earning a decent pension to retire on and fighting for labour rights to make our workplaces fair and safe places to make a living – we haven’t done all that to see it just thrown away in a moment.

The financial disaster and the unprecedented rip-off of workers by corporations are why the CLC is demanding action by the federal government on four key points:

First – Fix the broken employment insurance program.
Working with the NDP federal caucus and our affiliates, we’ve forced the Harper government to take a big first step – by extending benefits for about 190,000 long-term workers who have lost their jobs – but much more is needed.

Second – Get serious about creating and supporting Canadian jobs with industrial strategies, social infrastructure investment, and procurement policies that support industries and jobs in Canada.

Third – and this is a big priority for the CLC – it’s time to radically improve the Canada Pension Plan – which really is our country’s largest defined benefit plan and covers 93% of working Canadians.

The Canadian Labour Congress proposes doubling CPP benefits over seven years – so that it can gradually replace the underperforming RRSP industry.

We won’t get there overnight, to be sure.

But we will get there if we persevere and if we can change public opinion – from the current attitude that your retirement income is your own personal responsibility – to one where – just like with public health care – Canadians believe that retiring with dignity and security is a right in a society as wealthy as ours.

We have also had some early successes – the changes federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced last month to reduce pension contribution “holidays” in federally-regulated plans are positive – but not nearly enough to help most Canadians.

And we are pleased there will be a pension summit between the federal and provincial governments in December – we will be pushing them for immediate action – not more talk.

But most Canadians don’t have a pension plan that’s in trouble – because most Canadians don’t even have a pension!

That’s why we need to move quickly to improve the Canada Pension Plan.

And because so many workplace pensions, including public sector pension plans, are integrated with CPP benefits, a better CPP means more money could be available at the bargaining table to improve overall pension benefits. Or improve other benefits for members.

And we know we can do this.

Because back in the 1960s, the Canadian Labour Congress and unions across the country worked for a national public health care system that guaranteed every citizen access to basic medical services.

Even though many unions had won good health insurance plans for their members, they understood the advantage that comes from a good safety net for everyone.

We can do the same with pensions so that people can live the last years of their lives in dignity after a lifetime of work.

Let me tell you a short story about how important the pension issue has become.

Last month I spoke at a protest held by Nortel workers who are facing terrible cuts of up to 30% of their existing pensions because their plan was underfunded and the company was allowed to get away with it.

I met many Nortel pensioners who are sick with worry about their future as they enter what were supposed to be the golden years of retirement.

But what’s even worse is that over 400 Nortel workers who are literally sick – those on long-term disability – may be completely cut off from any disability benefits at all.

To meet women with disabilities crying because they will be driven into poverty on top of suffering from chronic illness is heartbreaking – and it is infuriating.

What kind of a country with the wealth of Canada would allow its most vulnerable workers to be treated like dirt?

It makes me incredibly angry – but it also makes me more determined than ever that our labour movement must fight for pension changes – fight until we are successful and fight until no one faces such a terrible future!

The fourth CLC demand – for the government to take on the big banks over credit interest rates – especially credit card interest rates that are pushing vulnerable people further and further into debt as they turn to credit cards for basic necessities like groceries.

Sisters and Brothers, these are just some of the steps that we must take to begin our economic recovery.

Because we must begin transforming our economy – from one based on greed to one based on need.

So please join us as our labour movement fights for a new and fair economy – an economy where everyone benefits, not just the wealthy.

Thank you for listening and have a great convention!