CPP cheques rising 1.8 per cent for 2015 / Marine Atlantic, USW/ILA Council of Trade Unions reach collective agreement
CPP cheques rising 1.8 per cent for 2015
OTTAWA — Canada Pension Plan benefits are rising 1.8 per cent in the new year for people already receiving benefits. Employment and Social Development Canada announced the benefit amounts on Dec. 29, 2014.
Effective Jan. 1, 2015, the maximum CPP retirement benefit for new recipients age 65 will be $1,065 per month. The increase is calculated on the average yearly maximum pensionable earnings for the last five years.
The new CPP rates will be in effect until Dec. 31, 2015.
Old Age Security (OAS) benefits, which consist of the basic OAS pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the Allowances, will remain the same for the first quarter (January to March) of 2015.
As of Jan. 1, 2015, the basic OAS pension will stay at $563.74 per month. OAS benefits, like CPP benefits, are based on the consumer price index (CPI).
Marine Atlantic, USW/ILA Council of Trade Unions reach collective agreement
HALIFAX — Marine Atlantic and the USW/ILA Council of Trade Unions reached a collective agreement in the last days of 2014.
The federal Crown corporation offers commercial and passenger ferry services between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.
The new deal was reached with assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The previous agreement, which expired on Dec. 31, 2013, covered 442 employees.
More than 94 per cent of collective agreements within the federal jurisdiction were settled without work stoppages in the past five years when the Mediation and Conciliation Service was involved, according to Employment and Social Development Canada.
