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Toyota Canada has made it clear, it can change the pension for its workers whenever, however it wants – and it did just that.
In a recent meeting, workers were told those hired after Jan. 1 2014 will get a less secure defined contribution pension plan while those working full time now – the last hire was in July – get a better paying defined benefit plan.
The move led to a spike in Toyota workers signing Unifor membership cards as part of an organizing drive going on at the company’s plants in Cambridge and Woodstock in Ontario.
A defined contribution plan does not guarantee what it will pay on retirement, only what is paid into it. A defined benefit plan states exactly what a worker will get.
Unifor pensions cannot be changed without workers agreeing to it.
Toyota’s new two-tiered pension plan, and a bonus offer of up to $500 to be paid in January, has ignited heated discussion among Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada workers, who took to social media to speak out.
“Two-tier pension is their warning. Two-tier wages is next. I’m ready to vote,” said one worker.
