Ontario Nurses' Association Reaches Agreement with Province to Maintain Control of Pension Plan

TORONTO, Oct. 23, 2012 /CNW/ - The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) is pleased to announce that it has negotiated an agreement with the provincial government to maintain joint control of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).

"ONA and the provincial government have negotiated an agreement that ensures HOOPP will continue to be there for the many hard-working, dedicated registered nurses and allied health professionals who pay into the plan to prepare for retirement," says ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN.

The agreement maintains current contribution rates, exempts HOOPP from being merged with smaller pension plans with funding deficits, and ensures that employers will see no contribution increases until at least December 30, 2017.

Haslam-Stroud believes the attack on HOOPP should never have happened to begin with.

"Contrary to some of the spin out there, HOOPP is not a gold-plated pension plan for the public sector," she says. "It is a defined benefit plan that is fully funded through the contributions of its members and employers. Approximately 80 cents of every HOOPP pension dollar paid comes from investment returns on contributions of members and their employers, not the taxpayer.

"The ONA members who belong to HOOPP have deferred part of their wages to pay into HOOPP and plan for their retirement," she notes. "Through extraordinarily good management, HOOPP has avoided funding deficits and has allowed contribution rates to remain stable for many years. HOOPP is an example of an extremely well run pension plan that should have been an example for the government, not one that they should have chosen to attack."

ONA is the union representing 59,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals as well as more than 13,000 nursing student affiliates providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

SOURCE: Ontario Nurses' Association

Ontario Nurses' Association

Melanie Levenson   
[phone], ext. 2369, [email protected]

Sheree Bond    
[phone], ext. 2430/cell: [phone], [email protected] 

Visit us at: www.ona.org; www.Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; www.Twitter.com/OntarioNurses