Legislature approves changes to pension act for mill workers

FREDERICTON – The provincial government reconvened the legislative assembly Tuesday in order to make changes to the Pension Benefits Act to allow pension benefits to hundreds of workers and retirees of an Edmundston mill.

It was called a ‘historic move’ that only happens when there are exceptional circumstances.

“It will have a real impact on their income and it’s the right thing to do,” said Premier David Alward.  “If we didn’t do it now, then it would be as much as eight months later and that’s completely unacceptable.”

The Fraser Papers went bankrupt in 2009 and workers at the Edmundston mill lost more than a third of their pension.

Now the mill is owner by Twin Rivers Paper Co. and an agreement has been reached for workers and retirees. It includes boosting casual worker’s retirement plan from 56 per cent to 64.6 per cent. Salaried workers will see an increase from 65 per cent of 69 per cent.

Twin Rivers will have to inject between $12.5-$52.9-million over the next 15 years into a shared-risk pension plan.

The province also gave the company 200,000 additional cubic metres of wood through the new forestry plan. Twin Rivers has in turn, promise $70-million in upgrades to operations.

The Opposition Liberals are questioning if that’s a sustainable decision.

“We don’t know, that’s a question we’ve been asking about the sustainability of the plan moving forward, these are very serious questions that we’ve been asking for months in the legislature,” said Liberal MLA Brian Kenny.