Navistar Updates

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September 6, 2017

Unifor held a victory celebration BBQ for members on Saturday, August 26, 2017. Cathy Baker-Wiebenga has played an incredible roll and below you will find her statement she read at the celebration:

Read Cathy's speech

Local 35/127 Navistar Dispute Highlights: What did we achieve?

August 23, 2017

Unifor working closely with Local 35 and 127 have finalized a significant victory for Navistar workers and their families. We achieved improvements as a result of the closure on July 2011.  This corporation fought the union at every turn. Despite the lengthy time frame, your union remained absolutely committed to ensure workers receive their rights, both within the severance and pension issues.  We appreciated the support of the membership as we went through some very challenging and difficult roadblocks.

Below you will find an overview of this difficult fight. The significant improvements attained are directly due to the unwavering commitment of the top leadership of the union including: President Jerry Dias, National Secretary Treasurer Robert Orr and the National Executive Board. In addition, people who were directly involved in the arbitration and pension matters included: Cathy Wiebenga and Doug Wright, Local 127, Joe Lucier, Local 35.  These individuals deserve an enormous amount of credit for their long standing commitment to the former workers of Navistar.  There are others who played a critical role such as the former National President Ken Lewenza, Lewis Gottheil, Legal Counsel, Jeff Wareham, Pensions and Benefits, Jim Mitchell, National Staff Representative and Bob Chernecki, former Assistant to the President.

Because of the efforts of everyone involved we put millions of dollars into workers pockets, which they rightfully deserved. Fighting back makes a difference!

Unifor Local 35/127 Navistar Dispute Highlights

What did we achieve?

Member inquiries

Joe Lucier and Cathy Baker-Wiebenga will be available at Local 127 - 405 Riverview Drive, Suite 305 Chatham, ON at the following times to answer questions and help members with their pension option statements.

Tuesday, June 13 from 4 pm until 7 pm

Wednesday, June 14 from 8 am until 11 am

Pensions Option Form Mailings

The Union is still dealing with a number of issues that concern the packages that Navistar workers received from Morneau Shepell - we are in the midst of correcting these issues.

Navistar and Morneau Shepell have notified us that there are approximately 140+ members who have not mailed in their information to Morneau Shepell.  We are encouraging these members that if you have not mailed in your required paperwork as of yet, please do so as soon as possible. If you require assistance in filling out the pension paper or the marital status document, please contact the Local Union who will provide the necessary assistance. Our union is waiting on a list of the 140+ members from the company so as to assist our members in this issue.

There have been significant questions surrounding the marital status document, and again, we have raised this concern with the corporation and are confident that the confusion will be cleared up.  This is a very important issue and a top priority with the Union.

There are of course other issues that we are working on, including the issue of severance payments to eligible Navistar workers. We are frustrated with the corporation and are demanding that this be resolved immediately – there’s no legitimate reason for the delay.  We repeat there are other issues, example: the Grievance filed for TPT’s, and we continue to wait for the list of TPT’s and their eligibility for severance.

In closing, we very much appreciate the membership’s patience and want to ensure our members that we are maximizing the pressure on the company to finalize these matters.  We will continue to report through this website and the Local 127 website.

Member inquiries

Joe Lucier and Cathy Baker-Wiebenga will be available at Local 127 - 405 Riverview Drive, Suite 305 Chatham, ON at the following times to answer questions and help members with their pension option statements.

Tuesday, June 6 from 4 pm until 7 pm

Wednesday, June 7 from 8 am until 11 am

 

Company Denies Severance – TPT Group

Please find below documents related to this issue.  We intend to fight the company’s decision and are referring the matter to Arbitration.

Union Grievance

Company Response

Referral to Arbitration 

Pension Questions - DC Plan and Non Contributory

We have requested contact information concerning pension matters, please find below the contact information:

Manulife Financial is the DC Pension provider. 

Employees may need their customer number or personal details to access information.  Customer number is located on any statements that the employee would have received from Manulife.

Telephone # is 1-888-727-7766.

https://www.manulife.ca/gro

For individuals who are not part of the partial windup and are looking for information on their DB pension, they should contact Navistar Canada through any of the below contact points.

Navistar Canada, Inc.

Attn:  HR Dept

401-5500 North Service Road

Burlington, ON   L7L 6W6

or

 Email:  @email

or

Navistar Canada HR General Telephone #:  1-800-286-3379                                     

Member inquiries

Joe Lucier and Cathy Baker-Wiebenga will be available at Local 127 - 405 Riverview Drive, Suite 305 Chatham, ON at the following times to answer questions and help members with their pension option statements. 

Thursday, April 27 from 8 am until noon

Tuesday, May 2 from 4 pm until 7 pm

Thursday, May 4 from 8 am until noon

Attention Unifor Members of the Closed Navistar Plant Locals 127 and 35

On April 8th and 9th 2017, as a result of our success at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario a series of meetings will be held to review the pension options available to Unifor members from the Navistar unit. We will also review the outcome of the recent award at Arbitration regarding severance for our members.

The meetings will be held at Club Lentina, 250 National Road, Chatham, Ontario.

Saturday, April 8
9:00am to 11:00am:  Those in the commuted value category (lump sum) group 1 and group 2
11:30am to 1:30pm:  Those in the grow-in categories in group 1 and group 2
2:00pm to 4:00pm:    Grow-in retirement eligible, and Retired from service (pre-August 2009)

Sunday, April 9
9:00am to 11:00am:   Those who retired post July 2009 group 1 and group 2
11:30am to 1:00pm:   Severance presentation Group 3 for those not included in pension windup

Group 1 – for both Saturday and Sunday will meet in the lower banquet hall.
Group 2 – for both Saturday and Sunday will meet in the upper meeting room.
Group 3 – for Sunday will meet in the lower banquet hall. Please note: that this meeting will also include those who have been identified as non-continuous employees and full-time employees who were employed as temporary part-time workers (TPT).

If your clock number does not appear on either Saturday, April 8 or Sunday, April 9 schedules, contact Local 127 for assistance at 519-354-3450.

Click here for meeting schedule and clock numbers

 

March 16, 2017

Pension Documents

Members from Locals 35 and 127 are now receiving their pension document from Morneau Shepell (Navistar). There may be information within these documents that either requires more investigation or clarification, we ask the membership to carefully review their information. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work our way through this process.  The union and local bargaining committees want to assure our members that they will receive their full entitlements.  As previously reported, we are scheduling meetings on April 8-9, 2017 we will be posting specific information on the location and other details concerning these meetings.

March 15, 2017

Pension/Severance Meetings

This notice is to advise Locals 35 & 127 membership, which as previously reported, we will be scheduling membership meetings that will deal with full reports on pension and severance issues.

The meetings are scheduled for April 8 – 9, 2017.  We will provide more details on location and additional information on the specifics of the membership meetings.

February 28, 2017

Unifor/Navistar Arbitration Case – Severance Entitlements

As previously reported Unifor Locals 35, 127 working with the National Union lodged a grievance concerning denial of severance following the closure of the Navistar facility in July of 2011.

The Arbitration hearing held in Toronto has been completed and an award on the severance was issued by the Arbitrator Owen Shime.  We are pleased to report that the Arbitrator has ruled in favour of the Union.  This award is a victory for the workers and the families. We were always confident that the corporation was violating the principles of the Employment Standards Act in their denial of severance to workers who were entitled by law for severance.

The Employment Standards Act provides for severance to those who have greater than five (5) years employment with the corporation. The Employment Standards Act provides one week of severance pay based upon regular wages for each year of service, to a max of twenty six (26) weeks. This award will be applicable to the Estates of deceased members in both Locals 35 and 127.

Below you will find the award issued by Arbitrator Owen Shime. In addition, below you will find a timeline for payment of the severance monies for Navistar workers.  As you must appreciate there are significant amount of logistics to ensure that the workers who are eligible, receive their proper entitlements under law.

It is absolutely critical that the proper mailing information is on file with Navistar. If your contact information has changed please forward your new information as soon as possible to the following email: @email. This will include both Locals 35 and 127 members.

To say this is an incredible victory would be an understatement. The National Union and Locals 35 and 127 remained absolutely committed to ensuring that Navistar workers received their full entitlement both in the pension and their lawful entitlements for severance.

There were an enormous amount of resources devoted to the case that ensured this victory. A significant amount of credit goes to Lewis Gottheil, Chief Legal Counsel, Jeff Wareham, Research and Benefits, Jim Mitchell, National Staff, Bob Chernecki, Unifor, bargaining committee of Local 35, Joe Lucier and Local 127, Cathy Wiebenga and Doug Wright. Special mention to retired National President Ken Lewenza who also remained committed to working on this important file.

This victory followed many years of fighting for justice, Navistar workers received full support from the National President Jerry Dias, National Secretary Treasurer Bob Orr and the National Executive Board of the Union.  We want to thank the membership of Locals 35 and 127 for their support and patience throughout this long fight.  It bears repeating that there is still a significant amount of work to be completed. We ask for your continued patience as we move through the completion of the pension matters and the severance matters.

Arbitration Award

Payment Framework Schedule

February 7, 2017

Pension Information

In conversions with Navistar and Morneau Shepell they have created an email contact for Navistar employees to update their info concerning their pension with Navistar. This email contact is for address changes and marital status ONLY.  As previously reported pension statements will start to be mailed out by March 14, 2017.

Please ensure you follow the instructions below as so they have the most current updated information.

An Important Message from Navistar Canada –

Mailing Address and Marital Status Updates

This notice applies to all members of the Navistar Non‐Contributory Retirement Plan (the Plan) who ceased employment between February 1, 2009 and July 28, 2011. We are preparing your Pension Entitlement packages following the regulator’s approval of the Partial Wind‐Up Report.

We have created an e‐mail account @email for you to provide changes to your mailing address and marital status / spousal information. This e‐mail account will be active from February 6, 2017 and will remain active through February 27, 2017.

At this time, the e‐mail account will only be accepting information relating to:

  • Change in Address: Changes in mailing address must be accompanied by proof of residence. Please include a copy of only one of the following: your driver's license, recent utility bill, property tax bill or bank statement.
  • Notification of a Spouse or Change in Marital Status: To accurately calculate your pension entitlement, we require the name and date of birth of your current spouse. Your most recent pension statement indicates the spousal data that we currently have on file. Any incorrect information may cause delays in processing your entitlement.

Please e‐mail your changes to @email and be sure to include your First & Last Name and Clock Number in your email. Note, we will not be responding to any requests to supply the current information on file. We will only be accepting updates supplied by members.

At this time, any other e‐mails sent to @email that do not directly relate to a change in address or marital status update, will not be reviewed.

January 27, 2017

Pension Information Update

This is to advise our members that Unifor held a conference call with Navistar and Morneau Shepell concerning the details that surround the preparations for pension statements that are being prepared for mail out to our members. Morneau Shepell and Navistar must have, by regulation, pension statements to our members within 60 days of the final letter from FSCO.  Our members then have 90 days in which to review their statements and forward them back to Morneau Shepell.

Both Morneau Shepell and Navistar have committed to work with the union to ensure that the pension statements are sent out as soon as possible, but they also indicated clearly, that with the amount of work necessary they would require the full 60 days.  Therefore they have estimated that these would be mailed out around March 10, 2017, 60 days does expire on March 14, 2017.

As previously reported, Unifor working with Locals 35 and 127 will now start preparing for meetings with our members to report and assist with their pension statements. In the next few weeks we will be scheduling these meetings in Chatham, we are estimating this to occur in late March or early April.

During the conference call Unifor raised a number of other logistical matters and are awaiting responses.  One such issue concerns address changes. We have suggested to Morneau Shepell that we would post their contact information on our website, so that our members could send their contact information directly to Morneau Shepell who would then forward them to Navistar.

Arbitration – Denial of Severance

As we previously reported arbitration dates have been set for this case under a single arbitrator for late February or early March, Lewis Gottheil our Chief legal counsel is working with the committee and staff in preparing our case.

We want to thanks our members for their support and patience as we work our way through these important issues. Unifor remains committed to ensuring Navistar workers receive every possible advantage.

As we have done in the past we will continue to post updates as accurate information becomes available on this website.

January 16, 2017

FSCO approves partial wind up of the defined benefit pension plan (Locals 35 and 127)

Following months of discussion and significant issues raised by the union, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has approved the partial wind up of the pension plan. The letter below confirms their review has been completed.

There is still a significant amount of work remaining.  The employer, working with Morneau Shepell, will now prepare letters to the workers that will outline their options and entitlements under the partial windup.  The legislation governing this issue allows Navistar 60 days from the date of the wind up letter to send out the option/information letters to the workers; the workers then have 90 days in which to respond and/or deal with any matters that may arise from their pension statements - the union has a call later this week with Morneau Shepell to review the mailing schedule.  Updates will be provided on this site.

The union will be scheduling optional information meetings with the respective groups of workers. These meetings will be scheduled through the local unions and information will be provided on this website.  We ask for your ongoing patience as we work our way through the scheduling of this critical issue.

Partial wind up approval letter

December 22, 2016

Update on arbitration process and pension issues

Below you will find information on both the above matters, as you know we have experienced significant delays, directly due to the corporations refusal to treat Navistar workers with dignity and respect. With the full support of the union leadership we intend to insure that Navistar workers receive what the absolutely deserve.

Arbitration process

As previously noted on this web page, the claim made by Unifor and its Local 127 and 35 for severance pay under the Employment Standards Act 2000, (the ESA) on behalf of all eligible Navistar workers on the Company’s seniority lists as of June 30, 2009, will be arbitrated at a hearing set for February 27-March 3, 2017, in Toronto, Ontario.

The Union’s grievance seeks a severance payment, under the ESA, for all eligible workers with five years or more service, of one regular work weeks’ pay for every year of service with the Company up to the maximum allowable payment of 26 weeks of pay.

Mr. Owen Shime is the arbitrator that will hear the case. Preparations are underway to put together the Union’s case. Appropriate documentation and case authorities are being assembled. The Company has indicated that it will argue, in part, that the pension entitlements of many workers are such that the workers are disentitled to severance pay, the Union has retained an actuarial expert to assist in the presentation of our case. We will update the website on this matter as we move towards the arbitration dates.

Pension Plan partial wind-up

As previously noted in this web page, Unifor has been in consultations with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) concerning the appropriateness of the assumptions, data and interpretations utilized in the partial windup report filed on behalf of Navistar by the plan’s actuaries Morneau Shepell.  On November 25th, 2016 the Deputy Superintendent of Pension at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) – following a series of correspondence and one face-to-face meeting with representatives of Unifor, Navistar, Morneau Shepell and FSCO – issued a letter stating he is now satisfied that the partial windup report meets the requirements of the Pensions Benefit Act of Ontario (the PBA) and will therefore be approving the partial windup of the Plan.

It is worth noting that the Deputy Superintendent’s letter supported and reinforced one of the Union’s key arguments – that members who had made an election to retire or settle their pension entitlement prior to the Plan’s partial windup date will, as part of the partial windup of the Plan, receive Option forms and have the ability to revise their previous elections; the Special Early Retirement provision in the Plan will be taken into consideration in such revisions if such Members are eligible. The corporation fought the union on this issue for months which caused a very significant delay.

As part of the Partial wind up process, Plan members who have not yet made an election or settled their pension entitlements will, of course, also receive personalized Option forms.   The Plan administrator has 60 days from the date the Partial wind up report is approved to mail Option forms to plan members.  We have attempted to get the approximate date that Navistar intends to mail the Option forms out to include in this note but we have not been notified of this information as of this date.  Our expectation is that the Options should be ready to go and should be sent out immediately following the date the partial windup report receives formal approval from FSCO, which should be no later than late December 27, 2016.

Once members’ Option forms have been mailed to members, Plan Members have 90 days to complete their election and return their Option form to Navistar.  Unifor intends to schedule a series of meetings for members grouped according to their retirement eligibility, to be held within the 90 day window, to outline the partial windup process and review member Option forms.  We have just begun planning for these meetings and will provide more information on this site once we have more information.

December 2, 2016

FSCO correspondence Re: the Navistar pension plan

Below you will find correspondence from the Deputy Superintendent, Pensions to Unifor concerning the wind up of the non-contributory pension plan. You will note the letter is dated November 25th, 2016 the union did not receive this correspondence until today. 

We will now review the correspondence  from the Deputy Superintendent, Pensions  and decide whether or not it’s content meets the criteria outlined by the union we will post the review on the website along with the next steps in this process.

Deputy Superintendent, Pensions letter to Unifor

November 3, 2016

Pension Matters - Unifor's letter to FSCO concerning outstanding issues.

September 22, 2016

Pension Matters – letter from FSCO to Navistar

September 16, 2016

Update - Arbitration Dates and Pension

You will find below documents from the Arbitrator Owen Shime and an update on the windup of the pension plan for Navistar employees.

Letter Owen Shime.doc

Windup Pension.doc

We appreciate the significant amount of frustration from Navistar workers. There have been a significant amount of challenges to deal with. The corporation is still refusing to pay severance for those who will receive an unreduced pension in the future.

We were forced to arbitrate the severance matters and the delay has been the sole responsibility of the corporation, not ours.

With respect to the pension matters Navistar filed the windup report with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) in April. We found a number of discrepancies with the windup report. Our actuary and pension staff has been working on these issues which we filed with FSCO.  We are determined to ensure that Navistar workers get everything they are entitled to, and FSCO has been supportive of our position throughout the process.

Lewis Gottheil former Chief Counsel for Unifor, now retired continues to work on this file and will be leading the outstanding Arbitration case.

We’ve attempted to keep the website reports updated and only post information that is accurate.  As these issues continue to unfold we will report through the website to the Navistar members.

June 23, 2016

Navistar issues update

Below you will find updates concerning both the Arbitration process that deals with severance, which has been the focus of our discussion with Navistar Corporation, and the outstanding pension matters.  We realize that many members are anxious to see a conclusion to both these issue. Unfortunately, the time frames for both the severance and pension issues have taken longer than expected.

At this point in time, we are awaiting responses from both the Navistar Corporation and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) we will continue our attempts to report to the membership as relevant and accurate information is received by the union.

We thank you again for your patience and support.

Grievance/Arbitration

A grievance has been filed on behalf of Locals 127 and 35 and all affected workers contesting the Company’s position regarding the entitlement of workers on the June 30, 2009 union seniority lists to severance pay. A response from the Company is due shortly. If the response is unsatisfactory, as is anticipated, the matter will be referred to arbitration. The Union has already suggested to the Company the name (s) of a proposed arbitrator to hear the case.

Pension update

Navistar’s actuary, Morneau Sheppell, filed a partial windup report of the Navistar Non-Contributory Retirement Plan with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) in late April, 2016.  The partial wind up report is currently undergoing review at FSCO. Unifor and its actuary have reviewed the report.  Once FSCO has provided comments and questions, Morneau Sheppell will respond with answers, clarifications and, potentially, modifications.  Once FSCO is satisfied the partial wind up report has been prepared in accordance with the Pension Benefits Act and Regulations, the report will receive approval from FSCO.  We will keep you updated on developments as they unfold on this website.

April 27, 2016

Closure document and pension update - Local 35, 127

As everyone is acutely aware, the National Union has been working with the Navistar Bargaining Committees, Locals 35 and 127 plant and office, in our attempts to reach an agreement on both a closure document and the pension matters.

Since 2009, when the plant was idled, and following the closure in July of 2011 and moving forward to today we have been demanding that the corporation provide a decent closure package, and adhere to their pension and severance obligations for the workers at Navistar.

Over the past number of months we have continued to stay in contact with the corporation in order to finalize the outstanding issues.  The corporation refused to bargain any settlement until the pension issues were finalized.  The corporation absolutely refused to provide any additional severance above the law.  In addition the Company has refused to provide severance pay to any worker who the Company considers to be eligible for an "unreduced" pension. The Union has a significant difference with the Company with respect to who falls into the category of workers disentitled to severance pay under the law due to the pension the worker is entitled to receive. The Company goes so far as to say that even if a worker is only entitled to an "unreduced"  pension on a grow in basis, many months or years after he or she is terminated, he or she is still not entitled to severance pay. This became another critical issue that had to be dealt with. The corporation also consistently, until very recently, refused to agree to an arbitration process to settle the severance issue. 

Over the last number of weeks we notified the corporation that unless they agreed to arbitrate the severance issue, that our Union would go back to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) and argue that the OLRB should appoint an Arbitrator to decide the severance issue. The attached document includes an Appendix A in which the corporation has agreed to commence the arbitration procedure on the outstanding matter of the severance within 30 days of signing this agreement.  Following a significant amount of dialog and discussion with the National Union and the Bargaining Committees, we have signed the agreement in order to move forward and finalize the outstanding issue of the severance pay entitlement. We have consistently demanded that the corporation provide enhanced severance above the law. They have absolutely refused to provide more than one week for each year of service.

For your information, the National Union included Lewis Gottheil, Legal Counsel, Jeff Wareham, Pensions and Benefits, Jim Mitchell, National Representative and former Assistant to the President Bob Chernecki. The bargaining committees at local 35 and local 127 are Cathy Baker-Wiebenga, Doug Wright and Joe Lucier.

In addition, remaining directly involved in this case are former National President Ken Lewenza.  National President Jerry Dias and National Secretary Treasurer Peter Kennedy have provided continued support.  

Sisters and brothers we have exhausted every avenue available to us in order to provide a closure agreement that respects the many years of service of Navistar workersWe have argued your case at the Financial Services Commission (FSCO), in front of the Financial Services Tribunal and at the Divisional Court and at the Labour Board.  We have worked with FSCO to ensure that the workers’ pensions were enhanced, and Navistar fought us at every turn. We want to thank the membership for their support and patience during this difficult fight with this corporation.

And while the fight over severance pay continues, the result of our long-fought battle over your pension entitlements is a victory – for Navistar workers, and for other workers in the province of Ontario who lose their jobs to corporate restructuring.   Under the order issued by the Superintendent of Pensions, members whose age plus years of service totaling 55 points or more as of the partial wind up date will be entitled to receive, or grow-into, a Special Early Retirement (SER) pension under the plan, if this pension is a more valuable option.  The SER consists of a lifetime basic pension and a temporary pension payable to age 65, and is payable without the usual significant early retirement reductions contained in article 2.02 of the pension plan (there may be a reduction that applies depending on individual circumstances).  This enhanced pension (the SER) will be to payable to members in the partial wind up group who have 55 points of more as of the wind date (July 28, 2011) once members meet the eligibility criteria for the SER (age 55 and at least 10 years of credited service).

There are other pension enhancements that were won on your behalf as a result of the pension battle.  We are expecting that the pension partial wind up report will be filed with FSCO by Navistar on April 23rd.  Once submitted, this will be reviewed by the National Union and the Bargaining Committees Local 35 and 127 to ensure that the document reflects the law in Ontario and the principles outlined by the Superintendent of Pensions, the Pension Tribunal and the Ontario Divisional Court.

In addition, we are in the process of selecting an Arbitrator to hear and rule upon the severance entitlement issue; we will provide an update once we have an Arbitrator selected and set the dates for arbitration. According to our Legal Counsel we are looking at about 2 days of Arbitration so we will move this along as quickly as possible.

Once we have concluded the process and have all the required information we will be scheduling a joint meeting of Navistar members Locals 35 and 127 in Chatham to provide a complete overview of both the closure document and pension and severance issues.  Updated reports will continue to be provided on our website.

March 16, 2016

FSCO extends wind up report deadlines

Please find below correspondence from FSCO to Navistar.

Navistar - Extension of deadlines

Update

March 2, 2016

Below you will find two documents that deal specifically with pension matters Morneau and Navistar have requested and extension to the deadline dealing with the partial windup of the plan. We are adamant in our position that there should be no extension.

FSCO is currently reviewing this matter and we will update the website once there is a position taken by FSCO on this issue.

Morneau and Navistar request for extension

Unifor's response

January 6, 2016

Please click here to see the final order of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario dated December 23 2015 which brings the pension wind up legal case to a close. The order directs Navistar to take certain important steps in the wind up of the pension plan within 60 days of December 23 2015.

Unifor will now await the results of the above order, we will continue to post notices on this website. There was a tremendous amount of work that went into defending Navistar workers’ rights and we remain committed to ensure that the affected workers receive their full and complete entitlements.

December 21, 2015

On December 21 2015, after taking great care in its deliberations, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Navistar’s motion for permission to appeal the July 3, 2015 decision of the Ontario Divisional Court upholding the ruling of the Financial Services Tribunal of Ontario (the FST) on the issues arising from the partial windup of the Navistar DB pension plan.

As a reminder, on July 11, 2014, the FST issued a decision, supporting in full the position of the union with respect to the partial windup of the DB pension plan, and supported the union’s position on all outstanding issues – including member entitlements - related to the partial wind up. This dismissal by the Court of Appeal will now trigger the issuance of an Order from the Superintendent of Financial Services (the Superintendent) that will order Navistar to begin the process of partially winding up the DB pension plan, including preparing and filing a partial windup report with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO).

  • The partial wind up report must be prepared in accordance with the terms of the Order issued by the Superintendent.
  • It is normal in these circumstances for the Superintendent to include a deadline - typically 60 days from the date of the Order - for Navistar to file the partial windup report.
  • Failure by Navistar to file the report can result in FSCO prosecuting Navistar for failure to comply.

The Union will continue to support former members’ during this process, including providing any assistance it can to the FSCO in order to bring this process to a close as quickly as possible. The union has, and will continue, to make its resources available to the FSCO and will review the partial windup report once available and provide feedback to the FSCO and Navistar on the report. Once the report has been approved and a partial windup ordered by the Superintendent, settlement of member’s pension entitlements will begin.

Severance Pay

The matter of severance pay, including entitlement of workers who will receive statutory improvements under the Pensions Benefit Act as a result of the partial wind up, and related closure issues, remains outstanding. This favourable ruling from the Court on the issue of pension plan wind up does not resolve the issue of severance pay. The corporation has consistently refused to address, in a reasonable way, the issue of severance entitlement and severance pay. The corporation remains unwilling to provide a fair and equitable closure agreement.

November 10, 2015

As you will recall Navistar filed an application with the Ontario Court of Appeal to seek permission of that Court to make an appeal of the Divisional Court decision that was released last July. We still await the result of that application for permission. The moment we receive it , and have had a chance to review it, we will post it on this web site.

Your Union is as frustrated as you and your co-workers about the length of time it has taken to resolve the pension wind up issues. The Union is committed to continuing this fight on behalf of all affected Navistar workers/retirees.

We remain hopeful that the Court of Appeal will not grant leave or permission to Navistar to initiate an appeal. If the Court of Appeal declines Navistar's request, then the favourable decision of the Superintendent of Pensions as adopted and expanded by the Financial Services Tribunal will be final and binding

September 1, 2015

NAVISTAR TRIES TO APPEAL DIVISIONAL COURT DECISION

Navistar is attempting to appeal the recent decision of the Divisional Court which dismissed Navistar’s appeal of pension decisions made by the Financial Services Tribunal. All three judges of the Divisional Court supported the union’s position and upheld the original decision of the Superintendent of Financial Service.

Below you will find the legal argument filed by Navistar.

In order to be able to appeal this well-considered decision, Navistar must first get permission from the Ontario Court of Appeal.  We remain confident that this application for permission to appeal will be dismissed by the Court of Appeal and we expect a decision on that matter in early October. The union is now preparing the necessary documents to defend our position. We will continue to communicate through the website.

To view the argument filed by Navistar click here

To view the union's submission click here

July 21, 2015

This update advises that Navistar Canada Inc has filed a written motion with the Ontario Court of Appeal seeking the permission of that Court to appeal the ruling made on July 3 2015 by the Divisional Court dismissing the Company's appeal from the pension plan wind up decision of the Financial Services Tribunal.

If you would like to read the Company's notice of motion please click here‎.

There will be further written submissions filed by the parties over the next two months or so and then the Court of Appeal will let the parties know if the Company has permission to appeal.

July 7, 2015

Ontario Court Dismisses Navistar Challenge

The Divisional Court has dismissed the appeal of Navistar Canada Inc. in a twelve page unanimous ruling of a panel of three judges.

The Court upheld all of the favourable findings of the Financial Services Tribunal, made in its decisions of October 2013 and July 2014 that were challenged by Navistar.

The Court confirmed that there should be a broadly based group of workers who are entitled to participate in the windup of the pension plan. Specifically the Court endorsed the conclusion that all workers who terminated their employment, for whatever reason, between February 1, 2009 and up to and including July 28, 2011 (the date of plant closure) should be in the wind up group. This means that all such workers in the wind up group who had attained the age of 55 and had at least 10 years of credited service will be entitled to at least a special early retirement benefit as of the date of their respective retirements. Further any worker in the wind up group with at least 55 points based on combined age and service at the time of their termination of employment will be able to "grow into" a special early retirement benefit.

The Court also determined  that all laid off and or disabled workers should obtain a supplementary 0.9 year of credited service under section 7.03 (b) (iii) of the union pension plan.

It should be underlined that this ruling is not necessarily the end of the road regarding these pension plan issues. The company has the right to apply for permission to appeal the decision of the Divisional Court to the Ontario Court of Appeal. That application for permission to appeal must be made in writing within 15 days of the date of the ruling. The ruling was issued on July 3 2015. In effect we will know by July 20 2015 or perhaps earlier if the Company intends to try to appeal this latest positive ruling.

Further it should be noted that this ruling does not and was not intended to deal with the outstanding issue of severance pay entitlement, particularly for those worker/members who have been found to be entitled to participate in the wind up group.  We will continue to challenge the corporation in demanding a fair and equitable closure agreement.

The Company has refused to make a fair and equitable offer to complete a closure agreement as long as these pension plan wind up issues are being prolonged, by the Company's very own actions. Our union, Unifor and Locals 127 and 35 remain committed to insuring that justice is done for the benefit of all members affected by the conduct of the Company.

Navistar workers have been through an in creditably challenging time and it’s only through your continued support and solidarity that we’re able to challenge this corporation.  The bargaining committees of Locals 35 and 127 and our legal department headed by Lewis Gottheil and the staff also deserve and enormous amount of credit for their hard work.

We thank you for your continued support and will continue to keep you informed as matters unfold.

If you would like to read the entire decision please click HERE.

 

April 15, 2015

Court Appeal Update

This is to advise that the Company appeal of the favourable pension wind up ruling issued by the Financial Services Tribunal was heard by a panel of three Judges of the Divisional Court on Thursday, April 9 2015. The hearing lasted all day. Counsel for the Company addressed the Court in the morning. Counsel for the Union (Lewis Gottheil) made submissions in reply in the afternoon. The Court has reserved it's decision. It is unknown exactly when the Court will publish it's ruling. We will immediately advise of any news by way of this web page, when a ruling is issued. Thank you for your continued support and attention to this.

 

March 18, 2015

Ontario Labour Relations Board Decision

The Ontario Labour Relations Board has released its decision in Unifor’s unfair labour practices application against Navistar. That application sought a determination that Navistar employees’ severance pay claims be settled by an independent arbitrator. The union complained that by refusing to agree to arbitration of those claims, Navistar was failing to make reasonable efforts to conclude a collective agreement and that is bad faith bargaining.

The Board has declined to order that the issue be sent to arbitration. The Board decided that it was not unreasonable for Navistar to refuse to agree to arbitration of severance pay claims while some other issues remain to be bargained.

While this is a disappointing decision, Unifor will continue to seek resolution of the severance pay issues and other important issues for Navistar employees.

decision_-_march_18_2015.pdf

March 2, 2015

Report on Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) Hearings

As previously reported, Unifor has filed a complaint at the OLRB against Navistar. That complaint deals with employees’ severance pay entitlements. Navistar repeatedly refused to pay severance pay to employees whose pension entitlements may be affected by Navistar’s appeal of pension decisions of the Financial Services Tribunal (“FST”). The FST supported the position of the union in an earlier case decided by the Pension Plans Branch of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.

On February 27th, 2015 we completed the hearing of the union’s complaint at the OLRB. We will now await the written decision of the Board on our right to force Navistar to have an arbitration hearing on the outstanding severance pay issues.

Below you will find a document that was filed at the hearing called “Statement of Agreed Facts”. This document provided the OLRB with a condensed version of hundreds of pages of documents summited by both Unifor and Navistar.  We will provide the final decision of the OLRB when it is received.

Appearances by Unifor at the Board included: Anthony Dale and Lewis Gottheil, Legal Department, Cathy Wiebenga Local 127, Doug Wright Local 127, Joe Lucier Local 35. Unifor staff included: Jeff Wareham, Jim Mitchell and Bob Chernecki.

Statement of agreed facts

January 15, 2015

Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing

As previously reported, Unifor submitted a complaint against Navistar to the Labour Relations Board.  A hearing was held on January 14th to allow the parties to make oral submissions in argument regarding the complaint.  The parties were not able to complete the hearing.  The Chair of the Board has scheduled hearing dates for February 27th and if necessary, March 9th.  These Board hearings will be held in Toronto.

Unifor Legal Counsel presented our case yesterday.  We do expect to have this hearing completed on February 27th and we will report the final decision of the Board once it is received by the Union.

The charges by Unifor against Navistar deal with the corporation’s refusal to bargain in good faith principally with respect to the matter of severance and transition pay.  The Union says the company has failed to take reasonable steps to conclude a closure agreement.

Pension matters – Court

As previously reported, Navistar appealed the decision of the Financial Services Tribunal to the Ontario Courts, and this hearing dealing only with pension matters is scheduled to be heard April 9th, 2015 in Toronto.

January 7, 2015

Fiscal Appeal Update

Please find below the material developed by our legal department concerning the above matter.

Union Position on Fiscal appeal by Navistar

January 5, 2015

This is to advise that the Divisional Court of Ontario has fixed a day for the hearing of the Company's appeal of the favourable pension decision from the Financial Services Tribunal.  The hearing is set for April 9, 2015 in Toronto. The notice of hearing may be viewed by clicking here.

November 26, 2014

NAVISTAR UPDATE

As previously reported we attended a hearing before the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) on Friday, November 21, 2014 in Toronto.

The hearing concerned the Union’s complaint of bad faith bargaining against Navistar.

The day began with Navistar making a motion to have the union’s complaint dismissed forthwith, without any inquiry into the evidence.  Part way through the company’s argument the Chair of the OLRB intervened and invited representatives of both sides to have an off the record discussion.

That discussion occurred.  In the end the union and company agreed to return to the OLRB on January 14, 2015 to have a full one day argument based on an agreed statement of facts.  This arrangement will expedite these proceedings.

The focus of the union’s complaint is on the company’s unreasonable failure to make proper efforts to resolve the outstanding issues in the closure talks, namely severance and related compensation. The union seeks an arbitration process to settle the issue of severance pay entitlement forthwith.

On a related note, we advise that we have received notice that the company appeal against the favourable pension wind-up ruling obtained by the union is likely to beard by the Divisional Court in February or March 2015.

The hearing was attended by the Director of the Legal Department Lewis Gottheil, Ken Lewenza former National President, Cathy Wiebenga former Chair of Local 127, Joe Lucier Committeeperson Local 35, Doug Wright former Committeeperson Local 127, Jeff Wareham retired National Representative of Pensions and Benefits and Bob Chernecki former Assistant to the President.

We will continue to report through this website as we move this process.

The company has consistently failed to meet fair standards of conduct in its dealings with the workers represented by Unifor and Locals 127 and 35.

The workers at Navistar will continue to have our full support.

November 6, 2014

Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing

As previously reported we have resubmitted our challenge at the board against Navistar,  below you will find notification from the OLRB, as it describes the hearing is November 21, 2014 at 930 we will report following the hearing.

OLRB_hearing_date

October 17, 2014

Unifor submission to the Ontario Labour Relations Board

This is to advise our Navistar membership that he corporation once again has failed miserably to address the key issues. Please find below our submission materials that have been forwarded to the Ontario Labour Relations Board requesting a hearing.

Unifor submission

Update September 3rd meeting – Navistar

As we recently reported to you, Unifor and Navistar agreed to adjourn the OLRB hearing scheduled for September 3rd on a without prejudice basis.  The reason for the adjournment was that Navistar had indicated in their submission to the OLRB that they were prepared to submit the issue of entitlement to pay severance pay to arbitration. The company has continued to refuse to pay severance to all members pending the outcome of their appeal of the ruling on the pension issues by the Financial Services Tribunal. 

The company and union agreed to hold a meeting in place of the OLRB hearing on September 3rd. The meeting was attended on behalf of the union by Unifor Chief Counsel Lewis Gottheil and others.  Following three hours of discussion and debate it was clear that the corporation was not prepared to agree to resolve a number of issues.  As a result Unifor will continue to challenge the corporation on the severance issues through the OLRB process.

To say this is disappointing would be an understatement!  Copies of the union’s filings with the OLRB will be posted on the website once they have been filed.

September 3, 2014

The hearing of the Union’s unfair labour practice complaint at the Ontario Labour Relations Board against Navistar set for today September 3, 2014 has been adjourned “sine die” on a without prejudice basis.  An adjournment “sine die” means either party (the union or the company) can ask at any time that the matter be brought back for hearing.  In its response to the Union’s complaint to the OLRB, Navistar made clear its agreement to arbitrate differences concerning entitlement to ESA severance pay.  This addressed a key issue in the Union’s complaint.  There will be a meeting in Oakville between representatives of the Union and Navistar today September 3, 2014 to review other outstanding matters concerning severance and related compensation.

August 13, 2014

Navistar has appealed the favourable decision of the Financial Services Tribunal (FST) issued on July 11, 2014, and posted here, under the message below.

In that July 11, 2014 ruling, the FST made several findings which supported the interests of union hourly and salaried members of the Navistar defined benefit pension plan.  First, the FST expanded the group of workers who would benefit from the plan windup enhancements, to include plan members who ceased to be employed as of February 1, 2009.

The FST also directed that all laid off plan members should be provided a supplementary 0.9 years of credited service, regardless of whether they returned to work, after their layoff (and we know, of course, that workers laid off by notices commencing in November 2008 did not return to work).

The FST ruling also declared that plan members whose age and service added together equaled 55 points or more on July 28, 2011 could “grow into” the special unreduced early retirement benefit set out in Section 1.03 of the pension plan.

Navistar has challenged all of these findings and seeks to overturn them.

The company’s notice of appeal may be read by clicking here.

The company’s notice argues that the FST erred when the FST made the findings set out above.

The company’s notice argues that the Tribunal made such a serious factual error in considering the evidence before it regarding the future of the Chatham plant, that the whole FST decision should be overturned.  Navistar also says that the 0.9 supplement regarding credited service should be taken away because in previous layoffs past members were not granted such an entitlement.

Finally, Navistar argues that the FST erred when it made a procedural ruling about the authority of the FST and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (the body that regulates pensions in Chatham) to even consider the issue of the 0.9 credit service supplement.

The union contests each and every point raised by Navistar.  The union will be a party to the appeal hearing and will defend every aspect of the ruling of the FST relevant to the interests of union plan members.

The union will be filing a notice in the Divisional Court confirming its participation in the appeal forthwith.

Now that Navistar has filed its Notice of Appeal, the company must order a copy of the transcript of the oral evidence that was heard by the FST.

Once the evidence has been transcribed, the company has 60 days within which to prepare and file its written material with respect to its appeal.  Then, the union and the Superintendent of Pensions (who are allied in interest general speaking in this particular case) have 60 days to prepare and file their respective written material.  Once the company’s written material is filed, the Registrar of the Court will put the case on a list of cases to be heard.  While it is difficult to predict when the case will be argued in Court, current timelines suggest that the case will be heard in the second quarter of 2015.

To view the full July 11, 2014 decision please click here

July 29, 2014

The hearing of the Unfair labour practice application will take place in the "Board Room", 2nd Floor, 505 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014, at 9:30 A.M.  We will continue to update this website with the latest information.

To view the full  notice of hearing please click  here

July 11, 2014

Financial Services Tribunal Dismisses Navistar Appeal

Please find attached the full decision of the tribunal which not only dismisses the appeal of the corporation but provides an excellent decision in favour of the workers which includes the .9 credited service issue.

We will continue to maintain communications with the membership on the decision of the tribunal. A great deal of credit goes to the National Unifor staff and bargaining committees of Local 127 and Local 35. Brother Lewis Gottheil director of the Legal Department deserves special recognition in this victory.

The National President Jerry Dias and National Secretary-Treasurer Peter Kennedy have applauded the decision of the tribunal and remain committed to provide the full resources of the union to the workers of Navistar.

Either party has the right to appeal to the courts in Ontario.

To view the full decision please click here

June 11, 2014

Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) - Navistar's Response to Union's Submission

Below, please find the corporations written response to the OLRB.  We are awaiting dates to appear before the Board and will continue to keep the website updated.

Click the following link to download the complete response:  response_june_2014.pdf

May 28, 2014

The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) has confirmed receipt of the Union’s Unfair Labour Practice Complaint against Navistar.  The OLRB has appointed a Labour Relations Officer named Fernando DaSilva as a Settlement Officer.  The OLRB has directed Mr. DaSilva to set up a settlement meeting involving the Union and the Company which will likely occur at the offices of the OLRB in Toronto.  The Company must file a written reply to the Union’s complaint by June 4, 2014.  We will keep this website updated as developments occur.

May 22, 2014

Ontario Labour Relations Board – Navistar

Click here to see the full application filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board against Navistar.  In this pleading your union submits that the company continues to refuse to bargain in good faith a closure agreement.  As we have indicated in previous communications to the membership we are determined to use every available process to ensure Navistar members get justice against this employer.  There is absolutely no reason that this company cannot finalize a decent and fair closure agreement.  We will keep the membership informed through the website on the status of these charges.

We want to once again compliment the bargaining committee of both Locals 127 and 35 as they remain committed to working with National Staff and the Legal Department, their input has been invaluable.

In addition, the national officers President, Jerry Dias and Secretary Treasurer, Peter Kennedy continue to fully support all the actions that we are taking to assist the membership.

Pension Tribunal Decision

As previously reported the pension issues that are outstanding are waiting a final decision of the Financial Services Tribunal Panel.  We are expecting a written decision in the near future.  We remain confident that a decision will be made in favour of the pension wind up entitlements as submitted by the union and the deputy superintendent of pensions.

April 17, 2014

FST Hearings – Navistar Appeal with respect to Superintendent’s decision

Hearings before the Financial Services Tribunal, held on April 11, 14-16, 2014 are now completed.  There was a significant amount of evidence put before the Tribunal.  We believe that the Tribunal will support the original decision of the Acting Superintendent. You will recall there were four outstanding issues pertaining to the partial wind-up of the workers’ pension plan.  The decision of the Superintendent supported the union’s position regarding these issues and the company appealed, which caused a long delay and the hearings noted above.

Given the amount of evidence put forward by the parties, we do not expect a decision until at least the later part of May or early June.  This estimate is also based upon the final comments made by the Chair of the Tribunal.

We will post the written decision of the Tribunal once it is received. Once again we thank the membership for their patience and support.  As stated previously your union will continue to protect the rights of workers and their pension plan at Navistar.

As a footnote Navistar still refuses to negotiate a fair and reasonable closure agreement.  The union will be taking further steps in this matter to continue to challenge Navistar, and find a resolution to all outstanding closure issues.

April 10, 2014

Navistar FST Hearings

As previously reported; the hearings dealing with the outstanding pension matters between Unifor (formerly CAW) and Navistar will commence Friday, April 11 and continue on April 14, 15, 16, 2014.  The hearings will be conducted at the Financial Services Tribunal offices in Toronto.  Lewis Gottheil, Chief Legal Counsel and members of the bargaining committee from Local 127, Local 35 and national staff will be attending the hearings.

We are hopeful that a decision by the Tribunal will be forth coming by late May early June.  Please note there will be a significant amount of evidence and testimony put before the Tribunal and it will take time for the Tribunal to review all the material.   Counsel for the Superintendent of Pensions will also participate in the hearings and support the original decision of FSCO which was favourable to the members of the Plan. 

We will communicate the decision of the Tribunal once it is released.

FEBRUARY 11, 2014

Readers of this web page will recall that late last spring a Superior Court of Justice Judge dismissed our proposed class action law suit on jurisdictional grounds. We appealed this ruling to the Ontario Court of Appeal. That Court of Appeal hearing occurred last Friday morning (February 7, 2014).

We asserted three main arguments to the Court of Appeal, just as we did last year to the lower Court. We argued first that there was a statutory right to severance pay that can be litigated in the Superior Court by individual employees of Navistar. We asserted as well that individual employees can rely on certain terms of their expired agreement which pertain to their individual terms and conditions of employment IF the employer takes no step to amend those terms and conditions of employment after expiry. We also argued that AFTER a collective agreement expires the law does and should hold that a worker can only be terminated from employment if that worker is given reasonable notice, mainly because the worker’s binding right of recall and just cause protection has evaporated while the parties are in a lawful strike or lockout position.

The Court of Appeal rejected our submissions and dismissed our appeal. The Court gave oral reasons which are available on this website. The reasons themselves are very concise. The Court of Appeal stated that it essentially agreed with the ruling that the Motion Judge provided. The Motion Judge basically stated that he was not persuaded that individual employees can bring individual claims for compensation on the grounds of an individual contract or relationship with the employer as long as their collective bargaining agent has bargaining rights and is bargaining with the employer over the same issues.

There are no plans to seek leave to appeal this matter to the Supreme Court of Canada.  Please continue to consult this webpage for further information regarding our efforts to bring about a fair and reasonable resolution to all closure issues connected to the Navistar facility in Chatham.

To read the complete decision please click here

FEBRUARY 10, 2014

This is to report that our appeal of the dismissal of the proposed class action for compensation arising out of the closure of the Navistar Chatham facility was heard by a panel of three Justices of the Court of Appeal on Friday, February 7, 2014.  Our appeal was dismissed.  The Court of Appeal panel stated that they agreed substantially with the reasons of the Motion Court Judge who dismissed the matter.  The Court of Appeal did underline that the dismissal of the action was jurisdictional or procedural in nature.  In other words, the Court did not and was not ruling on the issue of entitlement to severance pay or any other kind of compensation.  The Court of Appeal simply ruled that the Court below, the Superior Court of Justice did not have jurisdiction over our claim as written.

The Local and National Union leadership representatives are considering together the next steps, as we continue to strive to bring a fair and reasonable resolution to all of the outstanding closure issues which pertain to the membership.

February 6, 2014

Our members will recall that individual local union representatives launched a class action law suit against Navistar arising out of the circumstances of the closure of the facility in Chatham in July 2011, and the resulting terminations of employment. That law suit was dismissed by a Motions Judge last year. However, the Union, (formerly CAW Canada, now Unifor) has supported an appeal of that dismissal. The appeal hearing will take place on Friday February 7 2014 at the Osgoode Hall Court House in Toronto, ( corner University Avenue and Queen Street), commencing on or after 10 o’clock.

We will of course advise the membership, through this web site, of the decision of the Court. Lewis Gottheil and Anthony Dale of the Unifor Legal Department will represent the appellants.”

January 29, 2014

This is to advise that we have finally received confirmation of date form FSCO regarding the outstanding pension matters before the tribunal. The hearing dates are as follows.

April 11, 14, 15 and 16, 2014;
April 28, 2014 as being held in reserve

Despite our best efforts these dates are confirmed we would have wanted them earlier but it is not in our control, the tribunal dictates the dates. We will continue to update the membership as information becomes available.

Navistar refuses to bargain a closure agreement with the union until the pension matters have been decided by the tribunal these hearings deal with the company's appeal following the decision of the superintendent of pensions you will recall that the superintendent of pensions decision did support the unions submission.

December 11, 2013

To read the Hon. Charles Sousa Minister of Finance's response to National President Jerry Dias's letter regarding the delay in the Navistar tribunal hearing please click here.

December 6, 2013

FSCO Tribunal Cancelled Hearings

The union has been notified late yesterday in a note to our legal counsel that the hearing scheduled for December 9, 11, 12 and 16, 2013 has been CANCELLED!!

To read the letter that outlines a technical provision that in essence is due to a provision within the act whereby there must be a certain level of members at the tribunal, please click here. At this point we are absolutely livid about this unprecedented notification. We intend to contact the senior levels of government including the premiere of the province. We will continue to communicate with the membership on this critical matter.

To read the letter from Unifor National President Jerry Dias to The Honourable Charles Sousa Minister of Finance Government of Ontario regarding this cancellation please click sousa-navistar.pdf

November 7, 2013

Tribunal Decision

Below you will find the written decision of the tribunal concerning the outstanding matter with respect to the pension plan. Full hearings will commence in December with the final decision by the end of the year or early in the new year. This decision upheld the position of the union as previously reported. To view the full decision please click here

October 15, 2013

FST HEARING UPDATE

The Financial Services Tribunal (the FST) has dismissed Navistar's preliminary objection that the Deputy Superintendent (Pensions) did not have jurisdiction to make a ruling in favour of plan members with respect to the treatment of banked credited service under Article 7.03(b)(iii) of the pension plan.

This means that the FST can move ahead and decide all the outstanding issues regarding the pending partial wind-up on the plan, as they may affect all unionized plan members, including the banked credited service issue.

The FST upheld the submissions of counsel for the Deputy Superintendent and the union that the procedure supporting the Deputy Superintendent's ruling earlier this year was fair and unimpeachable.

Hearings on all the outstanding issues will resume on December 9, 2013, and continue on December 11-12 and 16, 2013 in Toronto.

This is a very positive development by the tribunal and as previously stated Unifor will continue to fight on behalf of the Navistar workers. We will continue to update the membership through the website system.

October 2013 Update

This is an update with respect to the proceedings underway before the Financial Services Tribunal (FST) with respect to the Navistar Pension Plan.

As you will recall, several issues relating to the partial wind-up of the Plan will be determined by the FST this fall.

The first day of hearing is set for Thursday, October 10, 2013, at the offices of the FST in Toronto.

On that day, Navistar will argue its preliminary objection that the Deputy Superintendent of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario did not have the authority to issue his favourable ruling regarding the treatment of "banked" credited service under Article 7.03(b)(iii) of the Plan. That specific paragraph of Article 7.03 provides certain eligible employees on layoff or sick leave with credited service up to a fixed amount during their time on layoff or sick leave.

Navistar pleads that the FST should not deal with the issue regarding the application of Article 7.03(b)(iii).

The union firmly disagrees and has responded in writing and will argue in the course of the hearing next week that the Deputy Superintendent of FSCO fairly and properly dealt with the issue of "banked" credited service, and the FST may also confirm the Deputy Superintendent's ruling.

Navistar's written submissions with respect to its preliminary objection may be viewed by clicking here.

The union's submissions may be viewed by clicking here.

The submissions of the Deputy Superintendent of FSCO may be seen by clicking here.

As always, we will keep you posted as developments occur before the FST.

July 16, 2013 Update - Notice of Hearing Before the Financial Services Tribunal ("FST")

There have been a number of former employees/retirees who have contacted the CAW-Canada concerning the Notice of hearing published by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario ("FSCO").

The Notice of hearing must be issued, by law, to everyone who was or is a member/participant in the Navistar Pension Plan, all as part of the partial plan wind up procedure.

The partial plan wind up itself is required as a result of the closure of the Company's Chatham facility in July, 2011.

The application of special partial plan wind up rules set by Statute law to the circumstances of the Navistar Pension Plan has been a source of controversy between Navistar and the CAW-Canada since the closure. Submissions with respect to the dispute were made to the Financial Services Commission ("FSCO"). Earlier this year the Deputy Superintendent (Pensions) of FSCO issued a ruling in favour of the submissions made by the CAW-Canada. Navistar chose to appeal this ruling to the Financial Services Tribunal. The CAW-Canada supports the ruling and will maintain its support before the FST.

The FST has begun its process. Part of the process includes ensuring that every member of the plan has notice of the upcoming hearing. That process of notification will include notices in the Chatham and Windsor daily papers by July 20, 2013. But all this does not mean that every member has to or should attend the hearing. For example plan members currently working at the Navistar parts depot are not affected by this dispute. And those Navistar retirees who retired prior to 2008 are not impacted by the dispute, unless they retired while on layoff or sick leave.

The legal and pension departments of the CAW-Canada are actively engaged in this file and continue to act on behalf of all Navistar workers and retirees who were affected by the 2008-2009 layoffs and the closure of the Chatham facility. The CAW-Canada is committed to presenting all relevant evidence and a cogent submission to the FST to insure the favourable ruling of the Deputy Superintendent stands unchanged.

The pending hearings are important because they seek to insure every worker/retiree who is entitled to the plan wind up protections of the law receives such entitlements. Please be assured that nothing can happen in the pending hearings which will take away any benefit a plan member currently enjoys or receives.

We have every confidence that the final decision of the FST in response to the Navistar appeal will be in the best interest of Navistar members. We believe the Deputy Superintendent's favourable original decision will be upheld by the FST. The FST hearings will occur December 2013.

We will continue to update this website as information becomes available.