Situation causes generational rifts which unions must deal with
Retirees returning to the workplace are increasingly causing rifts within unions and between members and employers, according to some union officials.
In Ontario, the provincial government and the Ontario Teachers’ Federation plan to overhaul a 20-year-old policy that allows retired teachers to work 95 days in their first three years of retirement and 20 days in the following years, while still collecting their pensions.
In many areas of the province, the number of supply contracts given to retired teachers far exceeds those given to new graduates. At the same time, the province continues to graduate thousands more teachers than it has jobs for every year.
It’s a simmering situation that puts unions in a tough position, according to Ken Coran, provincial president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. He says implementing a blanket policy that favours recent grads over retired teachers would be “somewhat discriminatory” since the union represents both groups.
He says the diversity of the province — urban and rural, French and English — also presents a challenge for the union.
“We have some school boards where they can’t even find enough occasional teachers to fill the daily jobs on a regular basis,” he says. “We have some subject areas where it’s difficult to find specialists. Those would primarily be things such as physics or French or tech courses. There are so many unique situations and our role in bargaining is to be fair to everyone.”
The nurses’ union in Saskatchewan faces a similar dilemma. The Saskatoon Health Region recently implemented a policy against hiring retired employees, unless it is an “exceptional case.”
The policy is intended to get more graduates working, ensure the health of the pension plan and reduce sick time, according to the health region. But Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) president Rosalee Longmoore says policies like this are detrimental to her members in some hospitals.
“In lots of places, if the retired nurses didn’t come back to work, nobody would get vacation,” she says. “They are the only casual members in a lot of places.”
SUN is considering grieving the policy because, according to Longmoore, it may actually work counter to the union’s ultimate goals.
“We will look at it through the lens of, is it fair and equitable?” she says.
With an increasing number of baby boomers retiring before 60, union officials expect the issue will continue to crop up. But many say the role of balancing the rights of retired workers with younger employees should not rest with unions alone.
In Ontario, for example, Coran says school boards should use a common sense approach based on their needs.
“Once these people are on the occasional list, it’s up to the school board and the administration to hire who they best feel would fit the position,” he says. “Our job would be to make sure the lists are the size that the local bargaining team feels is representative of the work that’s there.”
In some sectors, the frustration is coming from within the union itself. In Welland, Ontario, members of the CAW have been posting messages online and writing to the local newspaper suggesting Lakeside Steel is breaking the collective agreement by hiring retirees back for a third shift. They want the union to do something about it; senior CAW official, Bob Chernicki, denies there is a problem.
“We don’t have any members going back after they’ve retired,” he says.
Meanwhile, in Saskatchewan, Longmoore’s advice for members is to consider carefully the implications of retirement before deciding to leave early. “If you need to be working, take that into consideration,” she says. “Don’t just retire and assume you’re going to be hired back — because there is risk.”
